Kick Off
by Shmadders14
Summary: Miley's obsessed with soccer, Nick tries to win her over *Niley*
1. Trailer

**Okayy.. so this is a new story that I'm writing... I'm still doing The First In Years.. but this is also something I've been working on.... the trailer kinda sucks but the story will be good.. I promise.. I hope you like it**

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"_On the 8th day god created Soccer"_

I set the clean white ball on the penalty kick line. I stepped back, focusing my eyes on the big empty goal. Zeroing in at my target, I sprinted to the ball & got a clean shot off. Upper nineties. Perfect.

"_The ones who have talent are good but the ones who practice are great."_

Miley Stewart is OBSESSED with soccer, a game she's played her entire life. She plays all the time to try and better her skills further, disregarding injuries, illnesses, or anything that dares stand in her way.

_''You're born. You die. In between you play Soccer.''_

During her junior year of high school, they get a new coach at her high school, Kevin Gray. His younger brother Nick is in Miley's grade. Nick becomes apart of Miley's group of friends and grows close to her. Despite Nick's attempts, Miley won't give him a chance. She already had a boyfriend, his name was SOCCER.

"_I live for Soccer, life is just the time between the games."_

Will Miley push herself to the limit?

"_What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."_

Will Nick ever get Miley to fall for him?

_''There are no obstacles you can't ride above''_

Find our in…

**Kick Off**

"_A champion is someone who does not settle for that day's practice, that day's competition, that day's performance. They are always striving to be better. They don't live in the past._ "  
-_Briana Scurry_

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**Tell me what you think! **

**xoxo**

**Shmadders  
**


	2. Chapter 1

**Here's my new story.. the first chapter is more like an intro because I want you to see a little on how the characters are. There is definitely more drama and romance in the chapters to come. I hope you like it!**

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I set the clean white call on the penalty kick ling. I stepped back, focusing my eyes on the big empty goal. Zeroing in at my target, I sprinted at the ball and got a clean shot off. Upper nineties. Perfect. A smile spread across my face as I went to retrieve the ball.

"Miley!" Demi called from her current position, sitting cross-legged on the sidelines.

"What?" I picked up the ball and made my way over to her.

"That's like the 50 billionth shot you've taken. Are you done yet?"

"No, tryouts start next Monday."

"You've been on varsity since freshmen year. Why are you going crazy over this?"

"We have a new coach; I wanna make a good impression."

Demi fell back onto the grass. "You're insane!"

I smirked and began walking back to the PK line when I felt something hit my ass. I whirled around to find a soccer ball a few feet away and an innocent looking Demi.

"What? It slipped…"

I picked up the ball and gingerly wiped off a couple flecks of grass. "Demetria?"

"Yes?"

"Run." She quickly scrambled to her feet and ran back towards the school. I chucked the ball after her and hit her ankles, tripping her.

"You suck!" she called out, sprawled across the grass.

I dug through my bag and pulled out my phone. I had a text from my older brother Zac. My dad ran away with some hooker when I was really little and my mom's work takes her all around the world. She used to be home more, now that Zac is 23 and can legally take care of me and traveling makes her more money, I just live with Zac. The text said he wanted me home for dinner. I checked the time, 5:45, no wonder Demi was so impatient. "Demerz?"

She picked herself up off the ground and the ball. "Whatttt?"

"We can go now," I informed her.

"Finally!" She grabbed her stuff and full out sprinted to my car. She had the keys so she climbed in and honked the horn at me.

I drove Demi home and then went to my house. "Zac! What's for dinner?! I'm hungry!" I bellowed the moment I got in the door. There was no response. I walked into the kitchen to find Zac on the phone. "Zaaaaac," I whined.

He motioned for me to shut up. "Okay dude, I'll see you tomorrow night. Later." Zac hung up and turned to me. "Hey Milez."

"What's for dinner?"

"Spaghetti." He grabbed a wooden spoon and started stirring the sauce. "Can you set the table?"

"Is Vanessa coming over to eat?" I asked, going over to the cupboard to get plates.

"Yeah, she'll be over really soon."

"Good." I tossed three forks on the table. "So, who were you on the phone with?"

"The new varsity soccer coach."

"Oooh! Does that mean you got the assistant job?" Zac's girlfriend Vanessa Hugens asked, walking in.

"Yes it does. C'mere." Zac pulled Vanessa towards him and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. I hope they get married someday, they're so adorable together.

My stomach grumbled and I realized I was too hungry and impatient to be thinking about their adorableness. I needed food! "I'm starving!"

"Help yourself. Do you need an invitation to get your damn food? Really Miley, what are you, four?" Oh there's the big brother I know and love.

Once my starvation was sufficiently satisfied and I was on my third helping of spaghetti, I decided to intervene on the dinner table conversation. "Zaaaac, who's the new head coach?"

"He's a friend of mine from college, Kevin Joanas. You'll like him, he's really nice."

I shoveled another forkful of spaghetti in my mouth. "Cool."

"He just moved up her yesterday. He's got two younger brothers. Joe is a year older than you and Nick is your age I think…"

"He moved here with his family? I thought when you finish college you move away from your family, not with them."

"They kinda do what we do. Except their parents travel around the U.S. preaching or something. They're really religious."

"That sounds… um… interesting," Vanessa put in.

Zac chuckled. "Yeah, their parents are weird."

"So, are his brothers gonna go to East?" I questioned, referring to East High School, (_like HSM! )_ the greatest high school ever! Note my sarcasm there.

"I think they start Monday."

I smiled. "That's when tryouts are."

"Excited?"

"What do you think genius?"

"Have you been running?"

"No…"

"You don't want to be out of shape for tryouts Milez."

"Are you kidding? I just finished up basketball like two weeks ago!"

"Calm down kiddo, I was just messing with you."

"Don't call me kiddo."

"Why?"

"It makes me feel like a little kid."

Zac scoffed. "You are a little kid."

"I'm gonna be seventeen in May."

"Ohmigosh! You're a big girl now!" Zac mimicked in an annoying, high-pitched voice.

"Vanessa…" I wailed. "Make him stop."

"Zachary," she began warningly.

"Fine, I'll leave her alone. But just so you know, we're not doing anything tonight now."

"But you said…"

"Nope."

Vanessa turned to me. "Sorry Milez. Zac wins."

"Eww, I'm eating," I complained, scrunching up my face in disgust. I'm not getting grossed out because I'm immature and can't stand to hear anyone talk about sex, but I mean, hearing about my brother and his girlfriend, while I'm in the house.. ew.

"You're still eating?" Zac looked at me skeptically.

I pulled my plate closer to me and took a huge bite. "Yes I am," I said, my mouth full of noodles. "Jackass…" I murmured quietly.

* * *

On Sunday, Taylor (Swifft) and I were chilling at Demi and Selena's house. They're twins but totally different people. Demi's into soccer and basketball like me and Tay, and Selena is more girly and doesn't play any sports. We love her anyways though.

"I'm bored," I stated. I was lying on the floor tossing a soccer ball up into the air and catching it.

"Let's crash a church service," Demi suggested.

"Really Demerz?" Selena questioned from her spot on the beanbag chair. "I can't believe we split from the same egg," she added, blowing on her freshly painted, bright orange nails.

"We're fraternal twins dumbass, we came from two different eggs," Demi retorted.

"Can we do it? Please? I wanna crash a church," Taylor begged, jumping to her feet.

"I was kidding, Tay," Demi explained.

"But it's on my list of things to do before I graduate. And I graduate in a few months. You guys have a whole other year. I have to finish my list. Please!"

I put the soccer ball down and sat up. "You have that on your list, Tay? I knew you had 'climb on the PF Chang horses and take a picture', but you seriously have this?"

"Well, no. But I do now. Please! It'd be fun!"

I lolled my head to the side and looked over at my best friends. "We really have nothing better to do."

Selena capped her polish. "What if God strikes us with lightening because we interrupt the church?"

"God doesn't strike people with lightening for stuff like that. He was more important things to do," Demi argued.

"How do you know? You're not God!"

Demi and Selena's constant bickering is an unfortunate downside that comes with being friends with them. I love them both so much it really doesn't matter. Once they finished their pointless tussle on what God has time to do, Taylor whisked us out of the house and began galloping towards the church a couple blocks away. She had on a red cape, a birthday hat, and was carrying a cowbell. When we got there, people were filing out of the church.

"Too bad Tay, no church crashing today," Demi sympathized.

Brushing off her comment, Taylor marched into the throng of people.

"Oh god…" Selena covered up her face and I giggled.

Tay began ringing her cowbell and shouted, "I love Jesus!" earning herself a dirty look from an elderly couple and perplexed glances from others.

"I dig your cowbell!" a boy called out to Tay. I've never seen him before, or the two other guys he was with. They're probably new, in a small town like Jeneva, everyone knows everyone and new people aren't very common.

Tay turned back to us. "I told you the cowbell was necessary!" she shrieked, giving it one last mighty ring before she sprinted back towards the Lavato's house.

* * *

"Shit, I think I forgot my socks," Demi said, rummaging through her bag.

"Here Demz." I pulled a spare pair out of my gym locker and tossed them to her. Taylor, Demi and I were in the locker room getting on our stuff for tryouts.

"Look at the little freshmen, they all look so nervous," Taylor giggled, sliding on a shin guard.

"Do any of you guys have pre-wrap?" I asked, pulling my thick brown hair up in a ponytail. Tay dug in her purse and chucked a roll of yellow pre-wrap at me. I caught it with my cat-like reflexes. What up.

"So you know that kid who liked my cowbell?" Taylor started.

"He was cute. All those boys were. They looked Italian-ish. Italian boys are hot," Demi commented.

"Yeah, well, his name is Joe. He's in my psych class."

"Did he know who you were?" I inquired.

"Yeah. He asked me where my cowbell was."

"What'd you say to him?"

"I left it in my locker."

Demi zipped up her bag. "Tay… do you actually have the cowbell in your locker?"

Taylor looked down at her feet, and then let her eyes wander to the clock. "OH MY GOD! IT'S 3:20! WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!" she screamed and booked it out the door.

A gym teacher poked her head out of her office. "Watch the noise level ladies."

I snapped the lock back on my locker. "She totally is keeping her cowbell in there. We don't need to be outside til 3:30."

"We should steal it. Wanna go outside and pass or something?" Demi asked. I agreed and we left the locker room, making our way down the hallway to the door that led to the soccer field. Taylor was standing next to the door, a terrified look on her face.

"What's wrong Tay?" I asked.

"Joe and the two guys he was with at the church are out there with Zac," she mumbled.

"Ohhh. They must be the Joanas'!' I realized. "Kevin is out coach and the other one is.. um, Dick… wait, Nick. Yeah, Nick." I laughed. "Taylor, our new coach probably thinks you're a freak."

Taylor pouted. "It's not funny. I want him to take me seriously, not think I'm some psycho freak. You know hoe fucked up this is?" She sounded genuinely upset. If Tay is serious about anything, it's soccer.

"You'll be fine. If he remembers, just explain to him how much soccer means to you. And Zac will help," I reassured, pushing open the door and stepping into the crisp, early spring air.

"It's chilly," Demi complained, tugging on the sleeves of her t-shirt.

"Stupid Wisconsin," (_like Sonny With A Chance_) I commented. At least I was wearing long sleeves. Demi was dumb and just wore short sleeves.

We walked across the cement, our cleats making a clacking sound on the way, went through the gate and over to Zac and the other boys.

"Zacariah!" I squealed, jumping on his back.

"Kevin, this is my sister Miley," Zac introduced me, his voice straining under my astounding weight of 122 lbs.

"Hi," Kevin greeted, looking up from his official looking clipboard.

"Hey." I grinned and slid off of Zac's back.

"Cowbell girl!" Joe, well I'm assuming it was Joe, yelled out. Taylor turned to him, embarrassed, and gave a wave.

Kevin turned his attention towards Tay. "You were the girl outside the church…"

Her normal pale face flushed a tomato soup red. "About that… Sorry. I'm not that crazy, well I am, but I don't joke around with soccer. I don't want you to think of my differently because I did that."

Kevin nodded. "Alright, thank you… What's your name?"

"Taylor Swifft."

"Okay, sounds good Taylor."

I grabbed a ball form the shed and Tay, Demi and I went on the field to pass. Over the next couple minutes the freshmen and JV coaches came out and girls began spilling out onto the field. Once everything got organized, Kevin made us run to the other side of the fence and back. That sounds short but the fenced in area here has 3 soccer fields so it's pretty big. I was in the front of the pack immediately. There's just something about running that makes me forget about everything and overall just makes me feel good. When we returned I noticed a lot of girls were huffing and puffing. Babies.

"Again," Kevin ordered. Groans were heard throughout the gaggle of players.

"I need to stretch, I have a heel problem," a sophomore named Caitlin piped up. She was on JV last year and I swear, every warm up we do she has an excuse on why she has to stop. People like that bother me.

"Fine you can stretch," Kevin told her, buying into her BS. "The rest of you, run." He blew his whistle and we were off again. We ran slower this time, partly because we didn't want to look like gross little overachievers and partly because lots of running is a bitch whether you like it or not. Kevin gave us a water break after that, then proceeded in splitting us up into teams and having us play keep-away. The drills became a blur, dribbling, passing, shooting, sprinting, the adrenaline pumped through my veins. Kevin was surprisingly hard on people. Most new coaches are extremely nice and easygoing in the beginning then gradually ease into being super intense. A couple girls were whining, but most were handling it pretty well. We were nearing the end of tryouts when Kevin sent Zac to set up some cones. "Girls!" He called. "Over to the cones! We're gonna do one more run before we finish up for the day!"

I heard a lot of "what the fuck" 's and "he's such a dick" 's as we trudged over to where Zac was standing.

"Split up into lines of three. You're doing suicides. I want you sprinting, give it all you got."

"How long do we have to run for?" a junior named Lucy griped.

"Til I say stop. Line up." Reluctantly, we all got in line. I stood in line with Demi and Tay. "GO!"

A couple minutes into it I heard Demi's breathing from a couple yards away. It wasn't loud like she was just tired form running, but full on like she couldn't breathe. Demi has exercise induced asthma because she was so little when she was born. Taylor came back and I took off again. When I came back and Demi ran another set, her breathing was worse.

"Demz, are you okay?"

She shook her head. "I forgot to take my inhaler…"

A few girls were staring at us because her breathing was so freaking loud. Zac heard and came over. "What's going on?"

"She didn't take her inhaler," I answered because Demi was too busy gasping, trying to get some air into her chest.

"Hands up," Zac instructed, taking Demi by the wrists and bringing her hands up to her head. "Where is it?"

"Office," Demi wheezed.

The rest of us continued to run as Zac led Demi back to the school. I could still hear her ragged breaths when they were at the door. We kept going for another three or four minutes before Kevin told us to stop. Everyone was out of breath. It doesn't matter how good of shape you're in, sprinting continuous suicides wipes you out.

"Everyone go get your waters and come back here. I wanna say a few things before you go," Kevin directed.

The exhausted group of us stumbled to the wonderful water over by the shed. I wiped the sweat off my brow with the sleeve of my grey shirt and took a swig of water.

Kevin and the other coaches came over and we swarmed around them. Some stayed standing up to stretch, some sprawled themselves across the ground, I plopped myself down on the grass next to Tay.

"Alright girls, great job today. I saw a lot of talent out of you and I'm excited to see how the season is going to turn out." Zac returned, taking his intimidating stance next to Kevin. Demi slipped in beside me, looking a little pale but breathing normally again. Kevin continued, "Zac and I really want to develop you girls as a team this year. It isn't just about kicking balls…" A few snickers were heard. "Soccer balls, well I guess there could be multiple applications of ball kicking but that's not the point. This year we want to teach you how to deal with the crazy man-girls you will unfortunately have to face up against and how to play physical, not dirty, and not get caught by dumbass refs. Overall, you did awesome today and I look forward to continuing tryouts tomorrow. I want you out here and ready by 3:30 again. Now go home, you all smell."

The group dispersed, making our way back to the locker room. The next two days of tryouts flew by. Kevin announced the team and… he cut me. Just kidding, Me, Tay, and Demi all made it along with about 15 other girls. After being given the delightful news of the 2010 East Girl's Varsity Team, we skipped back to the hot box, a.k.a., the locker room. I really hate it in there. The air is thick with the scent of chlorine and feet, and it's always sweltering hot. You can walk in there cold and be sweating in about a minute. I pulled some sweatpants on over my shorts and shook my hair out of its ponytail. I shoved my smelly soccer attire into my soccer locker and met Zac in the parking lot.

"You are the slowest changer ever."

"What's your hurry? Is Vanessa waiting for you in bed or something?"

"Hah, you're so funny!" Zac mocked in the pretty much the most irritating voice he has the capability to make. His voice then returned to normal. "Vanessa is actually over right now making enchiladas. I invited Kevin and his brothers over for dinner."

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**Please tell me what you think. I really like this story because I get to write about something I know about, soccer. Please REVIEW!!**

**xoxo**

**Shmadders  
**


	3. Chapter 2

**Ughh.. I had really bad writer's block. I'm still kind of in the introducing part of this story. But more soccer and romance are coming up soon. And sorry this is kinda short, I just wanted to get something out. And since some large girl decided to push me in my basketball game and my ankle has become a gimp for the weekend, I thought I might as well type this up and get it out.**

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"I have homework Zacariah…"

"You have time to eat."

"Yes, but I don't know them. It's gonna be all weird."

"Then you can eat by yourself in the garage."

I climbed into the car. "But it's cold."

Zac got in the drivers side and put a CD in. "You complain a lot." Lady Gaga was soon blasting through the speakers with the bass pumping and the car pretty much shaking. Zac has an unhealthy, creepy obsession with Lady Gaga which both Vanessa and I find very disturbing. To get out of helping with dinner I ran up to the shower as soon as we got home. Once I was clean and had gotten the nasty layer of sweat off, I put on a different pair of gray, baggy sweatpants and a t-shirt from an old soccer camp. The Joanas' weren't her yet and I wanted to avoid the kitchen at all costs, so I made my way into the living room and flipped on the TV. When the doorbell rang I decided not to move and let Zac answer it. I heard the boys enter and I was soon beckoned to come join everyone else. I was hesitant in hauling my lethargic self off the comfortable couch. I'm not an anti-social person, but having dinner with my new soccer coach and his brothers is a very awkward situation to be thrown into. Luckily for me, when I walked into the dining room Joe and Nick looked just as discomfited as I felt. Zac and Kevin had already launched themselves into conversation and Vanessa still held refuge in the kitchen.

"Um, hi," I said awkwardly.

"Miley, right?" Joe asked. I nodded. "I'm Joe." He smiled, extending his hand. I shook his hand and brought my gaze over to Nick, waiting for him to introduce himself.

"I'm Nick," he finally spit out, not offering a hand like his brother.

Vanessa burst in with a steaming plate of enchiladas and we all sat around the table.

"So Miley, you're quite the soccer player," Kevin began, taking a bite. "This is delicious," he added, directing his comment towards Vanessa.

"It's a recipe from my mom. She's half Spanish, and half Filipino," V explained.

"Exotic," Joe stated, taking a forkful for himself. "Damn, that is good." Vanessa blushed, leaning into Zac.

"I got off track. Miley, you were phenomenal at tryouts. Zac claims to have taught you everything you know," Kevin brought up.

"I most definitely did and don't deny Milez."

"Well, not really considering the fact that I kicked your ass last week. I scored like fifty times."

"Yeah, because Vanessa was goalie."

"Hey!"

I giggled. "Zac helped me a lot when I was littler, but now he just yells at me all the time."

"I'm not yelling, I'm directing you."

Kevin cut in. "Either way, you're good, really good."

"Thanks."

"Your welcome. I have a really good feeling about the team this year. You're all really talented. You, Demi, and Taylor work great up top together."

"They've been playing together for 10 years. Miley and Demi played up a year right away," Zac informed him.

"Taylor's hot," Joe blurted.

"Joe gets turned on by cowbells," Kevin added.

"Oh my god… What did you guys think when you saw Tay at the church?" I asked.

"Honestly I thought she was nuts."

Zac snorted. "She is nuts."

"Not always. Just most of the time," I put in. "Zac, remember that one basketball game where that girl elbowed Tay in the face?"

"Yes, I don't think I've ever seen her that angry. In any sport, if you get her mad, even I'm afraid of her."

"So Nick," Vanessa chimed in. "Do you play any sports?" Her voice was a little too enthusiastic; making it obvious she was trying to include him in the discussion. He's barely said a word all night.

"Um, no."

"Why not?" I asked.

He looked down at his plate. "I did when I was younger, I just wasn't very good."

"You were terrible!" Joe exclaimed. "He was on this tee-ball team and when it was his turn he hit the tee over, ran to third base instead of first, and then shouted, 'I hit a touchdown!'"

Nick became intrigued with his food, his dark curls falling in his face in and attempt to hide the blush that was spreading across his cheeks. "I was only four," he murmured. I giggled and his face reddened more.

"I wouldn't be laughing Milez," Zac began. "When you were like two or three I was trying to teach you basketball with one of those mini hoops. You threw the ball, it smacked the pole, came back, hit you, and then you fell down."

"That's not funny! That's sad, I was like a baby."

Dinner small talk continued, jumping from topic to topic. At one point Zac and Kevin scurried off to go strategize or something and Vanessa went back into the kitchen to start dessert. I was left alone in the dining room with Nick and Joe.

I cleared my throat to break the silence. "You guys wanna go sit in the living room or something?" Both boys agreed so I led them across the hall and flopped onto the couch.

"So Miley, what lunch hour do you have?" Joe questioned.

"C," I responded. Our lunch is split into three periods, A, B, and C. I don't have Demi, Tay, or Selena with me this semester, it sucks.

"I have A…" Joe said back.

I sprung up to a sitting position. "Lucky!"

"Why is that lucky? It's too early, plus I have to have three afternoon classes."

"Yeah, but Taylor, Demi, and Selena all have that hour."

Joe raised an eyebrow. "You don't think they'd mind if I sat with them, do you?"

I giggled. "I'm sure they'd be delighted if you sat with them. I looked over at Nick, he was so quiet. "What lunch do you have Nick?"

"Same as you, C."

"Really? You should sit with me! I hate the people in our lunch hour!"

He smirked at my outburst. "What's wrong with the people in our lunch?"

"Well, first of all, it's pretty much all freshmen, and the girls I sit with are always obsessing over this senior who thinks he's the shit because he went to jail."

"How is being in jail cool?" Joe wondered.

"Butt fucking is the new thing, haven't you heard?"

Did those words just come out of Nick's mouth? Seriously? The kid that has said maybe a sentence the entire night just said butt fucking? I burst out laughing. "Nick, you have to sit with me. We'll start our own table, for cool kids only."

Nick only managed a smile before Vanessa was calling us back in for dessert.

* * *

"So, Joe thinks I'm hot?" Taylor repeated for the fifty-billionth time since I told her at the beginning of class. This is my only class with Tay, third hour Creative Writing, which basically means 'talk for an hour and maybe write a poem'. I was filling her in on the Joanas information I gathered last night.

"Yes Tay, Joe thinks you're sexy. I'm not really sure why though…"

She hit my arm lightly. "Shut up. I can't wait for Psych; I'm totally going to harass him."

"He was your lunch hour too," I remembered.

"Even better."

"What do you think Kevin is gonna make us do today? It's the first day of real practice."

"Is soccer the only thing you ever think about?"

"No, right now I'm actually thinking about how orbustic your hair is today."

Tay tried to flatten her mane of wild blonde curls with her hands. "It's not that bad!" she cried.

I laughed. "I was just kidding. Mine is just as large." I tugged on my equally insane brunette spirals for emphasis.

"So," Tay continued the conversation. "I'm excited for lunch now. I wasn't before cuz Sel and Dem had a fight last night so they're both gonna be all pissy. At least I'll have Joe to help me deal with the psycho twins."

"Demi texted me about that. I think you'll be fine, she said Sel was just having issues with David and took it out on her."

"Aww, really? I'll buy her a chocolate muffin then."

"Don't talk about food, I'm so hungry."

"I get to eat after next hour."

"I have two more hours."

"C lunch sucks."

"I'm well aware."

"Who do you even sit with?"

"Aly, Emily, Chelsea and all them. It's the most annoying half hour of my life. But I'm getting away from them. Nick and I are gonna sit together now."

"That's cute."

"Yeah I know! Isn't it just adorable?!" I exclaimed, a large, obnoxious, enthusiastic smile on my face.

"That whole family is just adorable, Kevin too. But he's out coach, and that would be weird… and illegal."

"Do you have a wittle crush on Joe, Tay Tay?" I asked in a baby voice.

Taylor brought her head close to mince, leaning over her desk. "Yessss, I doooo," she responded, spitting on my face as she tripped over her s's like a toddler.

I wiped off my face. "Do you want to have his babies?" I questioned, egging on our creepy conversation.

"Mmmhmmm…" Tay nodded, a demonic expression on her face.

We both dissolved into giggles. You know the kind where you pretty much annoy everyone around you, nut it doesn't matter because the pointless, nonexistent thing you're laughing about it so damn hilarious.

* * *

I survived Pre-Calc and AP Chem., though my stomach was growling the entire time, and finally made my way to lunch. I was met by the lunch line, snaking out the doors of the kitchen and out into the hallway. When I finally got in, I grabbed an Agave Lemonade Life Water and went to the shortest cashier line I could see. After paying the unnecessarily expensive price of $1.75 I made my way into the lunchroom. I spotted Nick's curly top sitting alone at a table. I collapsed in the chair near him, dropping my purse and drink onto the table. "Hey Nick."

His head jerked up, he looked surprised to see me. "Oh hey Miley."

I grinned. "You sound excited that I'm here."

His face turned red. "No, I just wasn't expecting you to actually sit with me."

"I was serious yesterday. See those blonde girls over there…" I pointed over to my former table. Nick glanced over in time to see them burst into a fit of maniacal laughs. "I am so glad I got away from them."

"I'm glad you did too, otherwise I wouldn't have anyone to sit with."

"You were sitting alone before?" He nodded, embarrassed. "Well, we're gonna be lunch buddies now," I reassured him.

"Lunch buddies?"

"Yes. We are gonna be BFFL's."

"Best Friends For Life?"

"Well would you rather be BFFN's? Best Friends For Now?"

"Actually I was thinking of something else."

"What?"

He gave the same smirk he gave last night. "Besties."

* * *

**Please review.. If there is anything you'd like to see happen, soccer injuries, fights, cute things for Nick to do, etc. Feel free to review with ideas. Oh and by the way, the couple int his story are Niley, Jaylor, Zanessa, Kashley, a little Delena, and I'm not sure who to put Demi with so... if you want her with anyone, please tell me. **

**xoxo**

**Shmadders  
**


	4. Chapter 3

**To **medx3 **who asked why I put butt fucking in the last chapter... Hah, well, when it's all guys in jail... they have their needs and there's no girls sooo... they butt fuck each other to put it simply. Nick was saying that if jail is cool then so is that.**

**Here it is... Finally. I've been trying to finish this chapter for forever. Perfect timing too. Soccer tryouts start tomorrow. I already know what's gonna happen though, but I'm excited the season is starting. Oh... and here's the whole team in the story. It's just random celebrities there could be an actual team. None of the extras besides Miley, Demi, & Taylor will play a big role unless you want them to.**

**Miley Cirus (Junior)**

**Demi Lavato (Junior)**

**Taylor Swifft (Senior)**

**Nicole Andarsen (Senior)**  
** Lucy Hayle (Junior)**

**Victoria Justiss (Junior)**

**Miranda Cozgrove (Junior)**

**Meaghan Merten (Junior)**

**Alyson Stowner (Sophomore)**

**Blake Livlee (Senior)**

**Amanda Bines (Senior)**

**Taylor Mommsin (Junior)**

**Mandy Girou (Senior)**

**Maya Kebbel (Freshmen)**

**Keke Palmmor (Sophomore)**

**Jeanette Mickerdy (Sophomore)**

**Tiffany Thortin (Senior)**

**Dakota Faning (Sophomore)**

**I had to spell all their names wrong so it would be legal.**

**Hope you like the chapter :)  
**

_

* * *

One Week Later_

"Finish it!" Kevin bellowed as I launched the ball form the corner to the crowd in front of the goal. The ball tumbled out of bounds. "Girls, our first game is tomorrow. How do you expect us to win if you can't even finish a simple corner kick?" Kevin was pissed. We've the hardest practices ever these past couple days. On Monday, he took us on a six mile run before practice. And another day we had to do 200 pushups throughout the practice plus suicides. Needless to say, Kevin and Zac have been kicking our asses all week. Practice is still fun though. To make all that impossible stuff more bearable, Kevin always let's us play Lightning and Butts Up.

_If you really want to know how to play the games… here you go._

_Lightning is basically like Lightning in Basketball… it's kinda hard to explain. Like if there is 5 players the first in line will run in goal to be goalie. A ball is rolled out & player 2 shoots. If they make it, they go to the end of the line. If they miss or the ball is saved, player goes to the end of the line & player 2 goes in goal. If the ball is kicked over, the person who kicked it is out. If you're goalie and you get 2 goals scored on you, you're out. You keep playing til someone wins. _

_In Butts Up you have 2 teams. Each team has everyone on the team have a shot at goal. The team that makes the most shots stays. The loser team goes into the goal and lines up with their backs to the other team. The winner team takes another set of shots, aiming for the butts of the people in the goal. Every time someone hits someone's butt their team gets a point. The team with the most points at the end wins. _

"Seriously girls, just kick the god damn ball in the goal. It's not that difficult," Zac grumbled.

"Can we please have a water break?" Miranda pleaded.

Kevin stayed by the goal, arms folded. "You just had one."

"Yeah, like an hour ago," Taylor brought up, annoyed. Not Tay S. of course, she wouldn't talk to Kevin like that, she's already thinks he doesn't like her because of what happened at the church. Taylor Mommsin is in my grade and a little bit mouthier to Kevin.

Zac pulled out his phone. "It's been fifteen minutes."

"But we've been running so much…" Meaghan groaned.

"You don't want us to get dehydrated," I added, fake fainting into Zac who kindly let me fall to the grass.

"I'm about to have an asthma attack," Demi gasped, dropping to her knees in front of Kevin.

"I'm going to die!" Taylor S. squealed, flinging herself to the ground and adding a dramatic scream.

I could see Kevin breaking down little by little. A few more fish floppings from Tay and he finally cracked. "You've got two minutes, be fast."

I leapt up and the whole team stampeded over to the shed.

* * *

We had the Joanas' over for dinner again that night.

"Zaaac, I don't want to help."

"Just grate the cheese Milez."

"I don't want to. I had soccer, I'm tired, and I HATE grating cheese. Don't we have the stuff that comes in a bag?"

"I swear to god Miley… FUCK!" Zac swore as he burnt his finger on a hot pan.

"It's just Kevin and Nick; I don't see why we just didn't order a pizza."

"I wanted Mexican," he grouched, his thumb in his mouth.

"We could have gotten Taco Bell, its way cheaper. Where's Vanessa?" I was in a whining mood, plus Zac made me run by myself after practice because I laughed while Kevin was talking. It wasn't my fault either; Demi was making faces at me.

"Just. Grate. The. God. Damn. Cheese." He growled.

"No." Before he could explode, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." Taking the opportunity to get away, I jumped up and raced out of the kitchen. "Hello!" I greeted, letting the curly Joanas' in. Joe was out having dinner with Tay. I hid behind Nick as we went back towards the kitchen. Believe it or not, Zac is quite frightening when he's angry. "Kevin and Nick are here Zachary," I squeaked.

Zac looked over his shoulder. "What up." I attempted to sneakily pull Nick out of the room with me, but evil big brother saw. "Miley Ray…"

I peeked over Nick. "What?"

"I'm going to beat you with a baseball bat if you don't grate this fucking cheese right now."

"No." I stepped in front of Nick confidently. Zac grabbed a rolling pin from a bowl next to the stove. He lunged forwards, rolling pin raised. "CHILD ABUSE!!" I made a break for the door but Zac caught me by the arm. Struggling and kicking my legs, I ended up on the floor giggling to myself.

I saw Zac roll his eyes. "Do you see what I have to deal with every freaking day?"

I scowled. "No Zachary, you looove taking care of me."

He shook his head. "Get off the floor."

I stayed put. I may sound like I'm being a brat, which I am, but for good reason. After he made me run, the entire way home from soccer Zac was lecturing me about how if I goof off at practice my playing is going to suffer and blah, blah, blah. It's not like I was the only one messing around. Zac gets super intense about my sports sometimes. So in return of him being an annoying hard ass, I enjoy being a brat.

"Nick, you wanna get the crazy out of here?" Zac suggested.

Before I could reject, Nick grasped me by the ankles and started dragging me out. There was nothing more I could do then let him slide me along the hardwood floor. "Where are you taking me?" My long hair was a tangled mess trailing behind me.

"I don't know." Nick shrugged, dropping my feet at the foot of the steps.

I stood up, dusting myself off. "Let's go play Grand Theft Auto."

"What about dinner?"

"Zac's cooking, it could be a while." I grabbed Nick's wrist and pulled him upstairs to my room.

As we entered my bedroom, Nick started dawdling. "Nice room you got here Milez."

Looking around, I scrunched my nose in disgust. My room was a bit… grotesque. I have clothes scattered everywhere; old wrappers, papers, and cups speckled my bed and bedside table. "I don't like cleaning." Pushing aside some homework and a bag of Doritos, I cleared a spot big enough for two people.

"I can see that. You also don't like grating cheese." He took a seat on the bed.

"I really do hate grating cheese. Zac always makes me do it though. So rude…" I dug my PS2 out of the corner and plugged it in. I stuck the controller into the console and settled down in the spot next to Nick.

"You only got one controller," he pointed out.

"Thanks Captain Obvious."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Watch, you can play in a little bit." I scanned over the map on the screen, trying to figure out where I want to go.

"Hey Milez?"

"Uh-huh…" I gave my dude's car a new paint job.

"What's under that thingy over there?"

"What thingy over where?"

He pointed to a very cluttered corner. "There."

"I don't know. Go look."

Nick got up and walked over to the corner. "Dude, your room is nasty."

"It's not that ba-…" I followed his gaze to a bowl with curdled milk inside. "God, that's disgusting.

"Even my room is cleaner than this."

"Would you like a medal? Oh shit." My car hit a light post and started smoking. Then it blew up. Cool.

"Hey look, you have a snuggie."

"GIMME!" I shot my free arm backwards, pinching the air, waiting for Nick to give me my zebra print snuggie. Suddenly, everything went dark. "You could have handed it to me," I groused, pulling it off my head and wrapping it around me.

"I was too lazy." He sat down alongside me again. "Is this yours?"

I looked over and saw him holding an acoustic guitar. "Nah, its Zac's. I just keep it in here to look sweet."

"Does he play?"

"He used to, but he was bad."

"Oh." He began plucking the strings and tuning the instrument like an expert.

"So are you any good?" I questioned, gesturing towards the guitar with my controller.

"Not really…" He finished tuning up and began playing this weird bluegrass-y melody. It sounded like my mom's music, or my grandpa's.

Despite my lack of affection for that particular genre of music, what Nick was doing seemed complicated. I paused the game, staring at his fingers. I couldn't tell what was doing what. Watching him was one more reminder on how NOT musically talented I am.

"Why are you staring at me?"

I gave him a skeptical look. "You're not really good at guitar. I would never be able to do that."

"It's not that complex though. I'm just playing around. You just…"

"Shut it, you're good. Leave it at that." I turned back to GTA.

"What you gonna go now?" Nick asked, referring to the game.

"I think I'm gonna pick up Denise and take her out to eat," I responded nonchalantly.

"Denise?"

"That's my girlfriend in the game."

"That's also my mom's name."

"I hope she's not like this Denise. She's a ho."

Nick chuckled. "So, what about your mom? Both your parents actually. Why do you live with Zac?"

I stopped the game once again. "You really like making me pause the game."

"What? Is it a long story or something?"

"No." I brought my legs up in a cross-legged position. "I'm just too ADD to play and tell you at the same time."

"Oh, that's kind of unfortunate."

"Yeah, anywho… My dad is, well, no longer with us…"

"He died? Oh god sorry. Is it a touchy subject? Forget I even brought it up."

Giggling, I shook my head. "Nooo, he's not dead. When I was like three he ran off with some skank named Christina. Now they live in a trailer park in Oklahoma. (_no offense to Oklahoma, it was the first state that popped into my head.)_ I don't talk to him ever."

"What about your mom? She's not dead, is she?"

"No! She's the international manager for the Hyatt Hotel. _(I think I made that job up)_ She's always traveling. She used to stay home for me but she makes more money traveling. Once Zac got out of college we decided it would just be easier this way. She comes home for the weekend every 3 to 4 months and sometimes she'll take off for a couple weeks at a time."

"Do you miss her?"

It was weird; no one ever asks me that. Most people just say that I'm lucky. Others say it kinda sucks. I sighed. "Yeah. But it's either that or be broke, so I'm okay with it."

"I know what you mean. Sometimes you just want your mom there to make you dinner, wash your clothes, go grocery shopping, do everything for you…"

"Aw, Nick… are you a Mama's Boy?" I teased.

"No!" He stole the controller. "It's my turn to play. I'm gonna pick up a prostitute."

"You can do that?!"

"Yeah, watch." Nick drove the car and slowed down once he found a whore.

"Are you looking for a good time?" she asked. Somehow Nick made the dude respond yes and soon the car was shaking and moaning was heard.

"That's effin ridiculous," I observed.

"DINNER!" I heard Zac yell from downstairs.

"Oh yay, I'm starving." I hopped off my bed and started for the door.

When downstairs, we were hit with the smell of smoke and of something burning. Two pizza boxes sat on the table.

I raised my eyebrows. "What happened to the tacos Zaccy?"

"Um… Apparently the meat isn't supposed to turn black."

"Really? Well then I guess it's a good thing I didn't grate the cheese. I would have done all that work for nothing."

"That would have been tragic."

"Yes, it would have been." I opened up one of the boxes and grabbed a slice.

* * *

My alarm blared loudly. I didn't want to get up. All my blankets are so soft and warm, it was just so comfortable. I turned the alarm off I snuggled deeper into my covers, trying to cherish the last few minutes I had in bed.

"Don't bother getting up Mile," Zac informed me, walking into my room.

"Wha'?" I lifted my head up, groggily.

"Look out your window."

I swung my legs over to the side and crawled out of my cozy cocoon. I made my way over to the window and pulled back the curtain. A thick white blanket of snow buried the outside. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope. Your game is canceled, and you've got a fucking snow day."

* * *

**Ohh snow... very common in March for Wisconsin... My three first soccer games last spring were canceled because of it. Snow sucks.**

**Please review... Tell me what you want to see in the first game!!**

**xoxo**

**Shmadders  
**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey... I've been writing this story constantly.. Not necessarily that part.. mostly parts that will come later.. but basically I really like this story... so if you like it too... please review :) I hope you like this chapter... the first game will be in the next one. I just got back from my game.. we won. It was sweet. Yeah.. so here you gooo.**

* * *

I rolled over in my bed, opening my eyes slowly. My room was still relatively dark. The blue numbers from my alarm clock illuminated the dim place, 10:37. I always look at the clock at that time. Ironically that's KISS FM here, but nevertheless, looking at the same time everyday gets a little annoying. I got out of bed, zigzagged through the dump I call my room and made my way downstairs.

"Hey Milez." Vanessa sat at the kitchen table, holding a mug of coffee.

I scratched my head. "When did you get here?"

"Hour and a half ago, Zac wanted me to help him build a bookshelf or something."

"Wow, my brother is quite the macho one… Can't even build a damn bookshelf by himself," I commented, sliding in the seat across from her.

"I'm not actually gonna help. He just wanted me here. So…" she stood up. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"You don't have to make me anything. I'll just get a bowl of cereal or something."

"No, it's fine. I have to make stuff for Zac anyways. It was the only thing I could do to make him get out there and shovel."

"Well, in that case… Can you make chocolate chip pancakes and bacon?"

Vanessa got a bowl down from the cupboard. "You and your brother are so alike sometimes it's creepy. That's exactly what he asked for."

"Do you know where my phone is?" I inquired, getting up and retrieving the bag of chocolate chips from the pantry.

"Yeah." She pointed to the counter next to the stove. "That thing has gone off a million times."

I meandered my way over to my purple 'RANT' and pressed a random button. I had seven messages from Taylor, one from Nick, and a missed call from Selena. Aw, I'm so popular. I scrolled through Tay's texts. She spelled out 'SNOW DAY,' putting one letter on each message. She _would_ do that. Nick's text simply read, '_hey…_' in which I quickly replied, '_what up buddy???!_' Walking thoughtlessly into the living room, I redialed Selena.

"Finally!! I thought you'd never call me back!" Sel screeched.

I laughed. "Well hello to you too spazzo."

"So what are you gonna do since Mother Nature decided she hated us, gave us snow, felt bad and gave us a snow day?"

"I just got up, dude, I don't know…"

"Well Tay and Joe are like building a snow fort or something and no one is allowed to be with them. I swear those two are dating, they're always together."

"You, me and Demz should do something then. I'm bored." I paced back and forth, skipping into the different patterns on the carpet.

"You could help me you know!" Vanessa called from the kitchen.

"I'm on the phone!" I yelled back.

"Yeah, I don't think you want Demi hanging out with us," Selena put in.

"Why?"

"She started throwing up at 3am and now my house smells like barf and I really gotta get out of here."

"Well she picks spectacular times to get sick. You wanna come over and we can figure out what to do?"

"Yes, that would be awesome. Thanks. No. Dem not in… EW! MOOOM! I'll see you later Milez." And with that, she hung up.

I giggled, shuffling back into the kitchen. "Okay, I can help you now."

"Good, you can watch the bacon." Vanessa handed me the tongs and raced back over to the griddle.

The front door swung open, bringing in a gust of frigid air. Zac tromped in as well, blowing on his bright red hands. "Holy fuck its cold out."

I grinned, putting another bacon strip in the pan. "You know Zachary, there are these things that were invented, you might know them, they're called MITTENS!"

"Shut up Mile." Zac wriggled out of his coat, hanging it up near the door. He went over to Vanessa, wrapping his arms around her. "Something smells delicious."

"Mmmm…" Vanessa reached up, pulling his head closer to hers and kissed him on the cheek. "Go set the table."

I soon found myself in pancake heaven. I licked my lips as the syrup poured from the spout. "I like it when you cook Nessa. When are you gonna move in?" I questioned bluntly.

"Yeah, when are you gonna move in Nessa?" Zac reiterated.

"Soon," she promised. "I just don't want to leave Ash alone. You know that, we've been roommates forever."

I gnawed at my syrup soaked bacon. "You practically live here anyways though."

"I know nutball, it'll be soon, don't worry."

"Good," Zac said, leaning over and planting one right on V's lips.

"Hello! Still eating here!" I interjected, my mouth full of chocolate-chippy goodness.

"Stop it you two," Nessa reprimanded.

"HONEY! I'M HOME!" Selena's boisterous voice rang through the room. She strolled in and plopped down next to me, stealing a pancake. "You know you guys should really start locking your door."

Zac raised his eyebrows. "Why are you here?"

"It's my house," Sel responded cheekily.

"I invited her over stupid." I balled up my napkin and threw it at his face.

"You invited Tweedledee over? Well then where is Tweedledum?" Zac asked.

"I thought I was Tweedledum," Sel complained, taking a hefty bite of pancake.

"My mistake Tweedledum, where is Tweedledee?"

Selena chewed thoroughly and swallowed before answering, "At home, puking up her internal organs."

Zac's fork clattered back onto his plate. "Lovely."

"Are you done yet?" Sel looked at me impatiently.

"Almost." I shoveled the remaining breakfast off my plate and into my mouth. When I was def a member of the Clean Plate Club, I stood up and put it in the dishwasher. Selena got up with me, snatching a bag of mini marshmallows from the pantry before bolting for the living room. I followed, messing up Zac's hair as I walked past.

"What do you wanna do?!" Sel launched herself on to the big, blue LoveSac in the middle of the floor.

I settled in next to her. "I don't know, what do you wanna do?"

She ripped the marshmallow bag open with her pearly whites. "I asked first."

I took a handful out of the bag before she could dig her grubby paws into it. "We could play Rockband."

She plucked her on mini marshmallow out, squishing it with her fingers before popping it into her mouth. "You know that's only fun when Twinny's here because then we can have a full band. Both of us suck at guitar."

"True… Very true…" I pondered.

"Lemme see your phone," she demanded suddenly.

"Why?" I asked, digging my phone out of my pocket and handing it to her anyways.

"I'm gonna find us a guitar player," she told me, acting like it was the most obvious thing to do in the world.

"Ohhh…"

"Ohmygod! You were texting Nick!" she exclaimed, mid-scroll.

I shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, I was texting him. What's wrong with that? Wait, did he text me back?"

"Umm… yes he did." She dangled my phone in front of my face, swinging it back and forth. "Wanna know what he said?"

"Yeah."

"Well let me see… Hmmm…. It says, Dear Miley, I like your face, and your boobs, and your ass, and I want to have sex with you ASAP. If you respond in the next five minutes I won't wear a condom so we can make pretty little babies. Love, Nick."

I folded my arms. "It doesn't say that."

"Oh I know, but you wish it did."

"I don't want to have a baby!"

"No, but you do want to fuck him."

"I've known him for two weeks."

"But you like him?"

"He's my friend."

"You want him in your jeans."

"SELENA!"

She giggled. "Sorry… He just asked what you're doing today. Should he be our guitar player?"

"Sure." I decided, grabbing a few more marshmallows. Selena tossed my phone over to me which I caught with ease. I looked down at the screen, it was… calling Nick?! "Selly, you're calling him?!"

"Yes, now put the phone to your ear. You don't want to sound like an idiot when he picks up."

Quickly I brushed my fuzzy locks away from the side of my head and pressed the phone to my ear. Thankfully it was still ringing.

"Hello?" Nick answered. His voice sounded husky like he had just woken up or something.

"Hey Nick." I smiled, but let it fade quickly when I realized I was on the phone and whatever physical actions I did, he wouldn't be able to see.

"So, what are you doing this fine snow day?" His voice was becoming clearer the more he spoke.

"As of right now, me and Sel are trying to find a guitarist for out band."

"You have a band?" he inquired, sounding surprised.

"On Rockband…" I clarified.

I heard him chuckle. "You want me to play Rockband guitar with you?"

"Only if you want to."

"Why wouldn't he?! Our band is so good! We're on a freaking world tour!" Sel cut in emphatically.

"If you're on a world tour I have to join," he enthused, humor evident in his voice. "I'll have to check with my agent first though."

"By agent you mean Kevin," I teased.

"Yeah," he laughed awkwardly. "Pretty much. Joe took one of our cars and the other one is super shitty. I'm not sure if it can drive in the snow."

"Excuses, excuses…"

"Tell him he needs to come right meow!" Sel shouted.

"What did she say?"

"She said you come right meow," I interpreted.

"Meow?"

"Meow," I mewed back.

More laughter escaped his lips. It was kinda like a giggle, but not girly. A man giggle. What would you call that, a miggle? Well, Nick 'miggled' and said, "Alright, I got the car. I'll be over in a little bit."

"Cool beans. Bye Nick." I unattached the phone from my face, pressing down on the red button, ending the call.

Sel smirked at me. "So, he's coming?"

"Yes sir." I got up, going behind the couch to pull out the Rockband drums.

She scrambled off the LoveSac, got on the couch and glared. "Did you just call me sir?" I nodded, taking one of the drum sticks and poking her in the stomach causing her to tumble backwards. "Jerk," she mumbled from the discombobulated heap she found herself currently in.

After untangling herself she reoccupied her spot on the LoveSac. Once I got the drums set up I cuddled back in next to her. While waiting for Nick to show up Sel reencountered her and David's troubles to me. Apparently Selena accidentally made out with this really nasty guy from West, our rival school, at a party a little while ago. And by accidentally I mean Sel was basically trashed. Sel and David have always been an on and off couple so I'm not too worried about them. Also, Sel made it very clear that it wasn't her fault she got drunk. David was the one who gave her all the drinks and then left her because he wanted to go watch a fight. Their relationship shouldn't work, but somehow it does. Selly's all girly and goofy while David's kind of nerdy but super ripped. I like them together but I have no idea how she puts up with all the drama. She was reminding of the time David hooked up with some college slut when Nick appeared.

Selena abruptly ended out conversation and sprung into the air. "We can play now!"

I un-dented myself from the plushy seat and slid the plastic guitar out from under the couch. "Here you go rockstar," I said lamely, handing it to Nick.

Sel put the game in and sat, twirling her microphone, waiting for it to load. All was well until Nick saw the band we were playing with. "I'm not being a girl!" he protested.

"Be a man and play as a girl!" Sel demanded harshly.

"Fine," Nick sulked.

I sat down at the mini drums and began tapping the green drum, going through all of the songs. "Which one should we do?"

Taking requests from both Selly and Nick I made a set list and we started playing. Nick decided to 'warm up' and start on hard. He said he hasn't played on expert in a while and is a little rusty. I play on medium and Sel goes on easy so she can mess around with the vocals and still get a good score. I pretty much don't have rhythm but being on medium makes me feel like I rule. Selena's actually a pretty good singer. It's not like she could get a record deal or anything, but her singing doesn't make people's ears bleed.

During Dirty Little Secret by AAR Sel moved from her seat on the arm of the couch and made her way over to Nick. She twirled around him, messing with his hair and tangling him in the cord. She pranced around, throwing her hands in the air and shaking her hips while Nick 'shredded' aka pressed buttons really fast, on the guitar.

When the song finally finished I stood up. "Can we switch? Drums hurt my arms."

"Sure Shmilez!" Sel grabbed the sticks from me, whacking both Nick and I simultaneously with them before sitting down.

"Do you wanna sing or play guitar?" Nick questioned, pulling the black strap over his head so he wasn't attached anymore.

"Umm… guitar," I decided, taking it from him.

"We're gonna need to switch your level to easy Milez," Sel piped up.

Nick laughed a little. "You really suck that much?"

I pouted. "My fingers are uncoordinated."

Nick shook his head as we started the next song, Mr. Brightside by The Killers. His voice instantly blended with Brandon Flowers. I tried focusing less on him and more on my part when I missed four notes in a row. Sel got off beat and slowly the drum and guitar icons moved down, turning the meter red. Nick, with his icon still at the top, attempted to save us, but with both Sel and I sucking, we failed. Our electronic crowd booed us off the stage.

"I'm going back to easy, eff this!" Selena cried, switching her level.

I bit my lip. "I'm already on easy."

Nick smiled, coming over to me. "I'll help." Sel restarted the song and Nick placed his hand over mine, helping me push the right buttons at the right time. He still held the microphone, his velvety voice singing the lyrics right next to my ear. We continued playing that way until Nick's phone went off. He let go of me and retrieved his phone from the end table. "Aw, I have to go," he announced. "Kevin needs the car."

Sel sighed in disappointment. "Just when we were getting good too."

"I know," he joked, digging his keys out of his pocket. "I'll see you two at school tomorrow… Unfortunately," he added before walking out.

I took the guitar off, letting it crash to the floor. "I don't wanna play anymore."

"Me either." Sel turned off the TV and went back to her favorite spot, the LoveSac.

I rejoined her. "Sooo…" I sighed. "Peaches."

She turned to me quickly. "Oh shit, really?"

I nodded. Peaches is a code word Tay, Demi, and I came up with to tell Sel she's flirting a lot. She had a tendency to hit on guys with girlfriends, and when she almost got into a bitch fight we had to come up with the code word. **(a/n: My friends & I def used to use that for one of my other friends...)**

"I wasn't trying to, I swear," she reassured me. "I didn't think I was, well, maybe I did a little… Dammit, I thought I was getting better at it too. Sorry Milez, you know I only want David though, right?"

"I know Selly, I was just telling you."

"I feel bad now, I know you like Nick and-,"

Whoa," I cut her off. "Who said I liked Nick?"

"You were being a little flirty yourself there Miss Miley," she teased, tickling my side.

I squirmed. "No I wasn't."

"Whatever you say Milez. But, you two would so make an adorable couple."

"Sel…"

"I'm just saying. He's in my Astronomy class and I've been talking to him a lot. He has a monster crush on you."

I felt a blush spread across my cheeks. Nick liked me?

* * *

**Seee... Niley's almost starting.. hah.. kinda... Do you guys like Selena? Mariah or imadinosawr918 told me she sounded annoying. And for later chapter do you want me to describe the game's or keep that kind of stuff brief? Please review!! 10 for the next one would be fabulous.**

**xoxo**

**Shmadders  
**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey, sorry it's been forever. But here's the next chapter. :) I have like 45 pages of things to come written so when those parts come the chapters should get out faster... hopefully. Well I hope you like it!**

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As heavily as the snow had come, it disappeared by morning. It was still cold but are game was rescheduled for tonight and as long as it didn't snow again, we were playing. With my newfound information from Sel I was very anxious for lunch to start. I didn't know if Nick actually liked me. And if he did, was he going to make a move on me? Is he gonna ask me out? If Nick asked me out I'd have to say no. He's cute, funny, smart, not douche-y (so far at least), and everything I want in a guy; but I can't break my rule. I took my time after Chem and lollygagged my way down to the lunchroom.

"Well someone took their sweet ass time getting down here," Nick griped when I finally showed up at the table.

I slid into the chair next to him. "I am so sorry Nicholas."

"You better be. You know how much of an asshole I look like sitting here alone?"

"A big one?" I guessed.

"That is correct." He took a bite of his apple.

The rest of much went surprisingly normal. I was so stupid to think that Nick was actually going to ask me out. He probably doesn't even like me like that. Selly was lying, she just wanted to stir things up. Nick would never like someone like me. He needs a girl that plays guitar with him or something, not some soccer player. We're strictly friends; it wouldn't be possible for us to be together, it just wouldn't be right. I spent the remainder of my afternoon psyching myself out, repeating over and over that even if I didn't have my rule we're just not compatible people, no matter how cute he is. After developing a few extra prints I left my seventh hour photography, only to find Nick waiting for me at my soccer locker.

"Miley," he called out as soon as I was in speaking distance. "What did Selena tell you yesterday?" He looked flustered, his curls all mussed up in front like he had run his hand through them. Or a girl ran her fingers through them, the girl he really likes. And he thinks I like him because of Sel.

I stopped a foot away. "Selena said a lot of things. You know her, always talking." I avoided making eye contact. He probably thinks I'm an idiot.

"Did she say anything about you and me?" he pressed.

"No," I lied, starting to spin my combination.

"Oh, okay. Nevermind." With disappointment evident in his voice and demeanor, he started to walk away.

"Wait, what did you think she said?" I asked curiously.

He came back. "Miley, I like you."

Here it goes, the whole speech about us just being great friends. I looked up at him. "I like you too Nick, we're friends," I said, trying to play it cool.

He sighed, looking down at his green converse and messing with his hands. "No Miley, I like you. Selena told me she told you."

"Oh, yeah. She did." He did like me, all that confidence bashing I did was all a waste. He actually liked me. He likes me. Shit.

"So," he continued. "Um, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out Friday night."

I bit down on my lip. He looked like a puppy when he was shy & nervous. "You mean like a date?"

He gazed at me hopefully. "If you want it to be."

My locker door finally swung open and I peered at my soccer gear inside. All the junk painfully reminded me on what I had to do next. "Nick…" I grabbed his wrist and pulled him around the corner to a more secluded spot, sinking down the wall and sitting on the floor. "I want to say yes, but I can't."

He dropped down next to me. "You can just say no Miley. It won't hurt my feelings. I was just asking."

"I don't want to though." I paused. "But I have this rule." Staring at my hands, I began picking at my nails. "I don't date during soccer season."

He twisted towards me and I felt his dark eyes piercing the side of my head. "Why?"

Sticking to my no eye contact tactic I didn't move, debating on what to tell him and settled on the truth. "Soccer is important to me, like really important. I love playing and it's my ticket into college. I've been playing forever and when I made varsity my freshmen year, I got so into it. I got second team all conference that year and even got a few calls from colleges. Sophomore year, things were a little different. I started going out with this one guy."

"Who's the guy?" Nick cut in.

"Liam, but that's not important."

"Isn't he the guy in your Chemistry class? Senior? Kinda got a big head?"

"Yes, but it's not important," I repeated. "Anyways, I thought I loved him and for the first time in my life, soccer wasn't my 24-7. I started skipping practice to hang out with him, I lost my starting position, and the college calls stopped coming. He broke up with me halfway through the season and I threw everything I had left back into soccer. I promised myself I wouldn't date during soccer season again. Boys are too much of a distraction and I need to be focused, especially now. The team is actually good this year and if I want to be recognized again I have to stay concentrated."

"Okay." He stood up, offering a hand and helping me up as well. "Do you want to pretend I never even asked you and keep being friends?"

"Is that okay?"

"Yeah. Look Milez, I understand your rule, it makes sense. But I don't want to ruin the friendship thing we had going so let's just forget about the 'me asking you out' thing."

I smiled and gave him a one armed hug. "Thanks Nick."

We began walking back to my locker when he stopped. "Wait, what about after the soccer season?"

My smile grew bigger. "We'll have to see." And by that I mean I hope to God he'll still like me then because I'll definitely say yes. As we walked, we kept at a safe distance; close enough to look like we didn't hate each other and far enough away to avoid any awkward brushing of our hands. I quickened my pace when I saw who at the lockers. "Demi, you're here!"

She gave a weak smile. "Yeah, my mom dropped me off at noon." Her voice was tired and there were dark circles under her eyes, but it's our first game and I wouldn't want to miss it either. She took a deep breath. "I'm not sure if I can actually play though."

Selena wrapped her arms around her sister. "My poor twin…"

Nick's voice came from behind me. "You guys are twins?"

We all turned to Nick, looking at him like he was a dumb ass. Selena let out a low, sarcastic chuckle. "Nick, you crack me up."

"Wait, so you are twins?" He furrowed his brow, confused.

"Yeah, they're just fraternal," I clarified.

"Oh, well that makes sense," Nick realized. "I'm gonna head out, but I'll be at the game tonight. Good luck."

"Is Joe coming?" Tay questioned quickly.

"I think so." He tossed his curls. It was something that would look cocky on most guys but so natural and adorable on him. "I'll see you later."

Selena soon followed, she had no reason to stay, it wasn't her first game. I slid next to Demi and Tay. "So, Nick asked me out."

"I knew he liked you!" Tay squealed.

"Damn," Demi gasped.

I brought my knees up to my chest. "I said no, you guys know my rule." I sighed. "I really do like him though."

"He'll wait for you," Demi yawned. "He seems like the type of guy who would."

I straightened my legs out. "Hopefully. What about you and Joe, Tay?" I changed the subject, not wanting to talk about me and Nick anymore.

"We may or may not have kissed yesterday," she informed us, trying to contain her excitement, which for Tay is quite a task.

"You kissed who now?" Scott questioned, bursting out of the training room. Scott's the athletic trainer and one of Zac's friends from high school. He's gay and always interested in out relationships. Scott always gives the best guy advice.

"You know Scotty, it's not nice to butt into other people's conversations," Tay giggled. "But its Joe Joanas," she admitted, blushing.

"I would love to hear details but I have to go around making sure we have no last minute injuries. Tay, how are the knees?"

"Still holding me up," she answered, giving a thumbs up.

"Milez, your pinkie?"

"I don't understand how my half broken pinkie is relevant to soccer. Oh, I like your boots."

He looked down at them, beaming. "Thanks, they're new. Marc Jacobs… they-." He stopped himself before he got too carried away. "Demi, Zac told me you've been feeling a bit barfy."

Demi stared up at him, her pale face and prominent under eye bags making her look demonic. "Barfy? What kind of word is that?"

Scott put his arms up defensively. "Apparently a word you don't like me using I guess."

"It is a bit of an odd word Scotty," I teased, kicking at his boots.

He moved away, protecting his precious footwear. "Whatever, but seriously Demz, they want to know if you can play or not."

"I don't know," she whined. "Just tell them I'll play if I'm not feeling _barfy_ when the game starts."

"Alrighty." Scott clicked away to get an injury update from everyone else.

It was about a half hour bus ride to Hamilton North. It was still cold, around 40 degrees and sunny. It would be nicer if it were twenty degrees warmer. When we finally got there, JV sprinted off to their game. Clad in our team parkas, winter hats, mittens, and in Scott's case, a tye-dyed snuggie, we made our way to the bleachers. Hamilton has a ton of land. The tennis courts, football field, baseball field, track, and soccer field are all behind the school. Jeneva's basically one of the most urbanized parts of the state. We only have enough room for a practice field by our school. We have a park a few blocks away that we use for most sports. The soccer field is behind one of the middle schools and down the street from Jeneva West, our rivals and unfortunately, our field sharing buddies. After freezing our asses though sixty minutes of the JV game, Zac took us to a small open area to warm up.

We started with a few runs and dynamic stretching before partnering up to do Brazilians.

_Brazilians are just a drill where you have a partner and you pas back & forth. Then you go on the move, passing back and forth. You do that, then the same thing with volleys, thigh trap to volley, chest trap to volley, & headers. I don't know why they're called Brazilians but that's what my coach calls them._

Getting into my soccer mode, I stopped joking around like I had before. Keeping my eyes on the ball, I made sure that every kick and volley went right to Tay. I saw a curly head walk into the field area and make their way up the bleachers. The ball Tay threw hit my chest and when it dropped, I volley slash rocketed it over her head.

"Nice kick Milez," Demi snorted from her sprawled position by our bags. She didn't feel good enough to play yet. "A little distracted?" she asked, following my gaze to Nick.

"Shhhh," I shushed her, putting a finger to my lips. Laughing, Demi pretended to lock her lips and throw away the key.

"Hey whore." I spun to find Tay a couple feet from me with the retrieved ball. "You care to explain why you decided to kick the ball all the way across the field?"

"I suck," I tried.

When the buzzer went off, signaling the end of the JV game, we trudged our way back to resume our warm ups on the actual field. Concentrating on soccer again, I tried working on impressing Nick instead of making myself looking like an idiot. We did keep away and did an offensive-defensive 3 vs. 2 before going into four corners. Each line at the goal post alternated in passing it to the diagonal line on top of the box so the receiver could shoot. I peeked quickly towards the side at Nick before trapping the ball that was passed to me. Once I was sure he was watching I took a rip at the ball, sending it into the upper nineties. Secretly proud of myself, I went into the next line.

With five minutes left on the clock, we made our way back to the bench for water as the captains and Kevin were beckoned to the refs. I took off the sweatshirt I still had on, the wind immediately causing goose bumps to break out on my skin. Zac had us line up on the sideline and made us sprint back and forth to get our blood moving. Kevin then brought us all into a huddle.

"Alright girls, this is it, our first game," he began. "Your captains won the coin toss so we have the wind in the first half." Tay smiled and high-fived Blake, Amanda, and Mandy, her fellow captains. She always gets super excited when she wins the coin toss. "Starters, we'll have Mandy in the goal, Blake sweeping, Maya, let's try you at stopper." Maya's eyes widened in delight, she's the only froshie on the team and now she's starting. I gave her a quick high five before Kevin continued. "Taylor M. and Alyson, I want you as the outside defenders, you can pick your sides. In the center, Tiffany, defensive mid and…" he stopped. "Demi how's the stomach?" Demi did the 'so-so' sign with her hand causing Kevin to refer back down to his clipboard. "Nicole, let's put you up at attacking mid," he decided. "Meaghan and Miley, outside mids…" Tay smacked my butt as Kevin called my name. I returned the favor when he finished up with, "And Taylor S. and Amanda, forwards."

Zac stepped in with his inspirational speech skills. "You girls have to start this game strong. You've all been working really hard & I don't want to see you get pushed around. Hamilton already got their first game in so they're back in the swing of things. Show them that this isn't last year and you guys want to win. They're only a mediocre team, Kevin and I saw their first game. They've got a few speedy girls on the outsides but their star keeper is suspended for drinking. Take advantage of that and shoot. You girls can do, you just have to get out there and show it."

Kevin finished it up. "When you're out there I want all of you putting 110% into it. The starting spots are not final. I'm still trying to figure out where to put you all and this is the place to show it. It's a non-conference game, but it still counts. Let's go."

Blake put her hand in the middle and we all copied her actions. "Raiders on three, one, two, three…"

"RAIDERS!"

All us started spilled out on our side of the field and gathered into a huddle again. Putting one foot each into the center of the circle we all put our arms around each other for support. "Let's do this, score right away, knock a bitch down, and let's win this thing!" Tay S. enthused.

Mandy began to bounce on one leg and the rest of us followed, beginning our little pre-game ritual.

We all started to yell, "AHHHHH!"

Amanda counted to three silently with her fingers. Once she hit three, we broke apart shouting, "Raiders!"

We dispersed and ran to our respective places on the field. I made my way over to the left side near the mid-line. I felt the adrenaline run through as Hamilton spilled out. The ref's starting whistle pierced the air and the game began.

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**Had to leave it there... I'm about to leave for camping for 4 days... Niley.. hah.. not really though. And the first game. Any soccer things you think I should add or anything, please tell me. And REVIEW! Reviews make me happy. Hmm.. 10 for the next would be fab.**

**xoxo**

**Shmadders  
**


	7. Chapter 6

**Well it's only been what... 2 months since I've updated... Sad. Well at least this chapter is a little longer than my usual ones. I'm sorry I take forever but seriously.. the next parts should go a little faster because I have parts of it written already. But... I don't have that much time to write and type because I have school everyday (my junior year... gotta start thinking about college brah), soccer Mondays, Wednesdays**, **and Saturdays, I coach soccer Tuesdays and Thursdays... but yeah. I'm working on it. This is kinda a filler chapter but I hope you still like it!**

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I ran down the side, working on making sure Hamilton didn't get any further advantage than the kick off gave them. The familiar adrenaline kick from running set in and I stole the ball. I found Taylor M. behind me, tapped it back to her and took off towards the goal. The ball continued to come my way and I took the liberty of taking it down the side and getting off a few shots. Ten minutes in the score was still 0-0. One of the Hamilton defenders kicked the ball out of bounds near the corner and I raced to go get it. My throw-ins are usually pretty far but this time I decided to try something else. Tay had parked herself on the far side and was completely open because her five foot eleven inches giraffe looking self was basically being guarded by a midget. I allowed myself enough room, ran forward and did a flip throw-in. Instead of watching the ball, I made a quick glance at the bleachers to see Nick's reaction. I couldn't find him so I turned back to the game. The ball went right to Tay who headed it into the goal, our perfect tag team play.

Happy that we scored and that I had potentially impressed Nick, I returned to playing. Eager for more, the next time I got the ball I took it up the side, blew past the side defender, did a scissors move around the sweeper and tucked the ball in the back of the net. Not satisfied yet after my first goal I parked myself at midfield and called for the ball. When I got it I tried the same thing that I did before except down the middle. I got triple teamed and got the ball stolen from me.

"Miley! That's your girl!" Blake yelled.

In the midst of my 'ball getting stolen from me' incident I forgot to cover back. I turned to see my player taking the ball down the line. It was too late for me to catch up now so I didn't go, I wanted to stay up and score again. The girl crossed it, wide open and Hamilton got an easy finish.

Brushing it off, I kept playing. We were still winning. In the last couple minutes of the first half I found myself with the ball again and an open field in front of me. I had Nicole doing an overlap to my left and Keke running down on the right, but since I was open I took it. At the top of the box I launched the ball in. 3-1.

As we walked off for halftime Blake ran up to my side. "Hey Milez, you gotta start passing more. I know Hamilton kinda sucks but everyone is wide open." Her tone was a little angry but sounded more like she was trying to help than anyone else.

I replayed what I had done in the first half and bit my lip, my soccer ego deflating like a sad balloon. "Okay."

Once back by the bench, I grabbed my water and started after Kevin and the rest of the team. Zac pulled me back by my jersey. "Miley."

I spun around. He did not look happy. "What?" The rest of the team went off to talk in the corner leaving Zac and I alone by the bench.

"Don't _what_ me," he spat. "What the hell was that out there? We know you're good, you can do moves, but this is a team sport, not the 'Miley' show. The throw in was great, a nice _assist_ to your teammate. But the others, you had girls _wide_ open. Yes, you made your shots but it's not always going to work. Like when you got triple teamed. And what the fuck was with you not getting back on defense? You just stood there! If you were tired that would be a different story but you were just being lazy. It's pathetic!" Zac's face was beginning to turn red and I could feel tears stinging in the back of my eyes. But he wasn't finished yet. "You're sitting in the second half. Kevin's not happy either Miley. I don't know why you think you can play so selfishly. You're not impressing anyone. You're being a ball hog and pissing off your own team."

A tear rolled down my cheek, followed by another. Zac has never yelled at me this much about soccer. "I'm sorry," I sniffed, wiping away the tears. He shook his head and went over to talk to Scott. The team came back over and I plopped myself down on the bench next to Demi as the game began again. "Are you still contagious?"

"No."

"Good." I lay my head on her shoulder, my soccer ego balloon completely popped. "Zac yelled at me," I told her.

"I know," she laughed. "We could all hear him."

"Awesome."

"Why were you playing like that anyways? You were like those crazy bitch girls we always make fun of cuz they think they sweet but everyone really hates them."

"Do you hate me?"

"When you're a bitchy ball hog?" She paused. "Nahhh. You don't do this all the time so it's obviously not gonna happen again. Plus I found much entertainment in listening to Zac have a heart attack over here while you were out there. Oh, and you never answered my question."

"Well part of it is... I don't know. When I got out there I got so caught up. You know, my adrenaline got really high..." I realized how stupid I sounded and sighed. "And I might have been trying to impress Nick."

Demi smirked. "I'm sure he's very impressed by your bench sitting skills."

We were interrupted by Kevin squeezing in between us. "Hello."

"You're not gonna yell at me too, are you?" I squeaked. Getting yelled at by my own brother was one thing. Getting yelled at by Kevin, my actual coach, would be a whole other, much more painful situation.

"No. I think your brother covered that." He smiled. "But I do have to ask, what was going on out there? You weren't doing it in practice."

"I guess I got a little too excited," I lied, giving a simpler explanation than what I was trying to tell Demi before. I wasn't about to tell him that I was showing off for his little brother who just so happened to have asked me out earlier today. "I won't do it again," I promised.

"So if I put you back in you'll start passing?"

I nodded quickly.

"Will you get back on defense no matter what?"

Another nod.

"Alrighty then, you can go in for Dakota. She's at the same place you were before." I started to get up but he stopped me. "But anymore crap like the first half and you're out. I know you're better than this Miley. Show me."

When he let me go I went over to the middle line, waiting for the ball to go out so I could go back in. I liked Kevin's talk way more than Zac's. It was much friendlier. Demi soon joined me at the line and we went back in. This time I didn't hold onto the ball, I doled it out to everyone else to set up attacks. Near the end of the game I found myself in front of the goal once more with only the sweeper in front of me. No one was around me so I did a spin move around her. Maya, who Kevin brought up to center mid when Demi went back out, was wide open. My angle sucked so I passed the ball to her. Maya shot it low and in the corner, out of reach of the goalie. The game ended, 4-2.

When I was taking off my shinguards Kevin came up behind me. "Way to turn it around Miley. Good job," he praised, giving me a pat on the back.

My lips tugged into a smile. "Thanks Kevin." As corny as his little compliment was, it made me feel good. Zac's lecture really beat me down and Kevin's postitive approach to it was way better. I picked my bag up, ignoring the fact that Zac was walking towards me and caught up with Demi and Tay.

"Hey ball hog," Tay greeted, teasing.

"Sorry," I apologized quickly.

"She was showing off for Nick," Demi chimed in.

"Ahhh!" Tay shrieked, leaping into the air, almost tripping as she came back down. "Screw your rule! You're so in lurrrvveee with him!"

I covered her mouth with my hand. "Shh Tay, stop screaming like a ruh-tard," I said, using my best Alan voice for the 'ruh-tard' part. "And I'm not screwing the rule. I can't just make it, then break it. It'd be wrong," I tried, removing my hand when I felt her tongue lapping at my fingers.

She dragged her barefeet through the grass. "I still say screw it. And.." She stuck her tongue out. "Your hand tastes like shit."

We made it to the other side of the field where the crowd was emptying from the bleachers. "Mija!" Mrs. Lavato came bustling over. "How are you feeling?" She fussed over Demi, muttering in spanish.

"I'm fine," Demi muttered, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment as her mom continued to fuss over her.

"I'm driving you home, I already spoke to your coach... C'mon." She began pulling her away. "And Miley, Taylor, buen trabajo." **(good job). **She smiled and walked away with Demi in tow. I love Mrs. Lavato. She speaks perfect English but always rambles in Spanish. Even though Selena and Demi think she's embarrassing, Tay and I think it's awesome.

Tay and I navigated though the crowd. I wasn't looking for anyone particular, I just wanted to put off seeing Zac until I absolutely had to. I followed Tay even though she was probably just looking for her mom or Joe. And finding Joe meant Nick too, which could be a good or bad thing depending on if he brought up the game or what happened earlier. "JOE!" Taylor squealed when she spotted him, nerd glasses and all. Tay never tends to talk in an inside voice. Her volume is always intensified, especially when she's excited. Unfortunately for everyone's ears, she's excited all the time.

"You were awesome!" Joe exclaimed, his sound level just as amplified as Tay's. They were meant to be together. The moment took a sharp turn from cute to nasty as the kissed; a little too 'passionately' for the environment we were currently in.

I turned my attention to Nick who was standing off to the side. "Hey," he greeted.

"Hi." I made my way closer to him, turning my back on the PDA.

"I never knew girl's soccer was so intense," he commented.

"What's so intense about it?" I questioned, letting my bag drop to the ground.

He shrugged, sending me a shy smile. "I don't know. You were really good though."

"Good enough to get myself benched," I joked even though the thought of Zac yelling made me cringe.

"I saw Zac talking to you at halftime. Why did he bench you? You scored twice."

Nick's confusion about it made me smile. "He wasn't talking, he was screaming at me. I wasn't being a team player, like I wasn't passing and stuff."

"And why weren't you passing?"

I bit my lip nervously. "I may have been showing off for you a little bit." I was surprised by my flirtiness, mentally kicking myself for doing it.

"So you were benched cuz of me?" he chuckled.

"Yes..." I admitted sheepishly. "Oh no." I saw Zac coming our way. "Hide me!" Giggling, I pulled Nick in front of me, trying to conceal myself from Zac's view.

I held my breath as Zac stopped a few feet away. "Taylor, get on the bus. We're about to leave." He did not sound happy. Flustered and a bit embarrassed, Tay grabbed her bag, gave Joe one last peck on the cheek and sprinted towards the bus. He didn't leave after that. "I see you Miley," he stated, agitated.

I poked my head out from behind Nick. "Hey Zac..."

He sighed. "Get on the god damn bus."

Picking my bag up, I withdrew from my excellent hiding spot. "See ya later Nick." I shot him a nervous smile and reluctantly followed Zac back to the bus.

For the obnoxiously long ride home I put my iPod in, letting MGMT calm me down. The bus brought us back to school and I was forced to ride the rest of the way home with my grumpy brother. Vanessa was chilling in the living room when we came in.

"How was the game?" she asked when she saw us walk in.

Zac responded, "Awful," at the same time I said, "We won."

Nessa stood up. "I'm confused. How was it awful if you won?"

"Well the team didn't necessarily do bad," Zac began. "You can ask Miley about the awful part."

I threw my bag down forcefully. "Are you serious Zac?" He just stood there giving me a look like he had said nothing wrong, which of course just set me off. "It was only the first half! I'm so sorry I got a little excited and didn't pass the ball as much. You don't have to be such a dick about it! Kevin wasn't and I was better in the second half. And you already yelled at me, why can't you just leave me alone?" I stalked off into the kitchen and began fixing myself a glass of chocolate milk. It's times like these where I wish Zac wasn't my coach and I was like everyone else on my team; having their parents come to all the games and have them cheer them on and congratulate them even when they do crappy. I stirred the Nesquik chocolate powder into my milk and listened to Zac and Vanessa as they carried on the conversation.

"Why do you always have to yell at her?" Vanessa asked.

"Technically she was the one yelling," Zac corrected, defending himself like a true boy.

"She said you yelled at her before..." V pointed out.

"Yes," he admitted. "Kevin asked me to talk to her and I told her the truth."

"And what was that?" I could just imagine the way the two of them looked right now. Zac, trying to play it off as nothing and Nessa in her mad stance, arms crossed and death glare prominent.

There was a pause. "Ness, I don't remember exactly what I said. You should have seen it though, she was playing like a brat. Never in my life have I seen her play so narcissistically. So yeah, maybe I yelled at her a lot, but I stopped when she started crying and in the second-"

The spiel was cut off by Vanessa's furious voice. "You made her cry?" Zachary, she is your sister! I get that you want to push her because she's so talented, but it's things like this that will make her quit. She's only sixteen. Stop being so absorbed in her being the best. It is her life, not yours."

I'm sure Vanessa could have continued for a lot longer, but I couldn't listen to them fight about something that wasn't even between them. I burst into the living room. "Stop!" They both turned at my sudden outburst. "It doesn't even matter, just stop!" Giving them both a glare I spun on my heel and rushed up to my room. Despite my little interruption and my shut door, I could still hear the muffled yells drifting up from downstairs. Grabbing my phone, I curled up on my bed and began searching though my contacts. My fingers hovered over one number for a minute before I finally hit 'talk'.

After a few rings the person picked up, their warm voice seeping through the phone. "Hey Miley..."

"Hi Nick." My tone immediately turned awkward.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure of this lovely phone call?" he asked. It was so dorky in the sweetest way possible.

I wanted to giggle. I love how even though I rejected him only a couple hours earlier Nick still acted like the amazing friend he always was. The want to laugh quickly faded when I remembered my actual reason for the call. "Zac and Vanessa are fighting and I don't want to listen to it."

"Do you know what they're fighting about?"

"Me," I told him, pulling the blankets tightly around myself. "V doesn't like when Zac pushes me in soccer. I don't think that's what they're fighting about anymore, but that's what started it."

"So, what's your favorite kind of pizza?

"Huh?"

"I'm getting your mind off of what's going on," he explained, shedding light on the before, irrelevant question. "Favorite pizza. Mine is pepperoni."

I smiled, sinking back into the pillows. "Um, it's a tie. I can never choose between sausage and pepperoni."

"Favorite ice cream?" he drilled.

" What is this, Twenty Questions?"

"Just answer it."

"Chocolate chip cookie dough. Stop asking food questions. I'm hungry," I complained, feeling my mood lift up the more we talked.

"Fine." He thought for a moment. "What would you do if you didn't play soccer?"

Go out with you was the automatic response in my head, but I didn't say that outloud. "Play basketball, I guess," I answered instead.

"Besides sports."

"I'm not good at anything else." I poked my toes out the bottom of the blanket.

"You're probably good at lots of things, you just don't know it yet."

The shouting downstairs intensified and I latched onto my pillow. "It's getting worse..."

"Can you hear what they're saying?" he asked.

"No, and I don't wanna know." I let my top teeth sink into my lip, chewing on it, worried. "They haven't fought like this since the time they broke up two years ago. They got back together obviously, but it took like five months. Nessa's like my older sister, sometimes like my mom since my real one is never here." I paused, taking a deep breath. "I don't want that to happen again."

"They'll work it out Miles. Everything will be fine," he tried reassuring me, giving the stereotypical response to the situation.

"You don't know that," I sniffed, feeling all my emotions catch up with me. "They're like screaming at each other."

"What kind of music do you listen to?" he asked, attempting another way to distract me.

"Um, kinda like indie more underground bands and stuff."

"Me too. Mainstream shit kinda bothers me. Do you like Of Montreal?"

"Mmmmhmmm..." I was barely listening to what Nick was saying. The shouting match downstairs held the majority of my thoughts.

"Miley..." Nick called out, catching my attention again.

"Sorry." I tried my best to tune out the voices again. If I listened it made me sad and paying attention to Nick lifted me up again. "I don't wanna talk about me anymore. Where did you come from?" I was done saying weird things about me.

"Well," he started out. "When a mommy and a daddy love each other very much, they decide to do this thing called sex. See, the daddy puts his thing into the mommy's thing and the sperm-"

"Stop," I interrupted. "I know where babies come from." I lay back, putting the pillow over my head, keeping the phone on my ear. "I meant where did you live before Jeneva?"

"Grenada, Mississippi."

"You don't sound very southern."

"Not everyone from the south has an accent. And I wasn't born there. We lived in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Texas before that. We moved to Grenada when I was eleven."

"Why did you move here then?"

"We moved around a lot when I was little because my mom and dad were spreading the word of God or whatever. We stayed in Grenada because my dad got a steady job as a pastor. Last summer they wanted to start preaching around the country again. Me, Kevin and Joe were sick of it so I filed for emancipation. When I won my case, Joe was eighteen and Kevin had found a job up here so we moved with him," Nick explained.

"Wow..." We were kind of in the same situation, except for the fact that he doesn't live with his parents by choice. Since it was a sore subject for me and most likely for him, considering his tone of voice, I changed the subject. "What's Grenada like?"

"Well, the best place to hang out is the Walmart and it never snows. I don't think you could survive there, my old school didn't have a girls soccer team."

"That just sounds like a blast," I commented sarcastically.

"It really wasn't that bad. I like it here better though."

"Good."

"Only bad thing is I got stuck in this stupid Independent Living class sixth hour. We're gonna have fake babies. This chick next to me wants to name hers Pocahantas Bon Qui Qui. It's just weird."

"You should switch into my gym class," I suggested, my head still underneath my pillow.

"That would be way better. How do I get out?"

"Go to the guidance office and ask," I giggled. "Gym would be way more fun if you were in it."

"Do you not have friends in that either?" he teased.

"Actually I have Alyson, Taylor M. and Justin, **(Bieber)** even though he's kind of annoying."

"Aren't you popular!"

"Yesssss!" I sat up laughing, the pillow dropping into my lap. As soon as my laughter stopped what was happening downstairs became loud and clear.

"NO DON'T TOUCH ME!"

"CAN YOU JUST SHUT UP FOR ONE SECOND?"

"FUCK YOU ZAC!"

The front door slammed shut, the bang echoing through the now silent house.

* * *

**If there's any typos, sorry... I always type really late at night. Annnnd... yeahhh**

**Review! 10 would be wondrous for the next!**

**Annnd.. follow me on twitter! /madelinepackard**

**xoxo**

**Shmadders  
**


	8. Chapter 7

**Let me start off by saying that I AM SO SORRY! I am the worst updater ever, and I apologize. My excuse is that from September to November I was playing soccer, coaching soccer, taking piano lessons, teaching piano lessons and taking guitar lessons. Then basketball started and it's 6 days a week, plus I still teach and take piano and I play indoor soccer. I hope that all that is a good enough excuse... well, that and the fact that I had REALLLYYY bad writers block. This chapter isn't my best.. but it's something so I hope you like it!**

* * *

What I was hoping not to happen, happened. I felt my throat ache as the familiar feeling of wanting to cry washed over me. "I have to go," I choked out. There was no way I was letting Nick hear me cry.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, bye." I pressed end and chucked my phone away. I blinked my eyes rapidly, willing the tears not to fall. The sound of the slamming door rang in my ears and wouldn't go away.

To get my mind off of it, I took a shower, blasting really obnoxious Nicki Minaj songs to clear my head. When I finished I tried sleeping, but failed miserably. I couldn't stop thinking about the fight. Any attempt at dreamland was shut down by questioning thoughts about what really went on and what the outcome of all of it would be. The numbers on the clock slowly crawled along, moving from the late night into the early morning. I picked up one of my old English books, 'The Scarlet Letter', but even the monotony of the pages couldn't lull me into slumber. Time droned on, birds began chirping and the sun illuminated my room once more. Promptly at 6:45 my alarm screeched, signaling me to wake up. With eyes glazed over and body heavy, I pulled the blankets off and stood up. A wave of dizziness hit me, my vision getting spotty for a second. As my semi-lit room became clear again the dizziness was replaced by a pounding headache. By the time I reached the door my stomach felt queasy and my eyelids were drooping. I made my way downstairs at a snail pace. As I neared the kitchen I prepared myself for a grumpy, enraged Zachary ready for round two of yelling. I was met by something quite different.

Zac stood by the stove, humming 'Alejandro' and tending to a sizzling pan of bacon. The usually mouth watering scent only served in turning my stomach. I remained in the doorway, breathing only through my mouth and waiting for Zac to notice my presence.

"Are you just gonna stand there?" He asked finally.

"Oh, um.. no." My voice felt disconnected from the rest of me as I made my way over to the counter and sat down. I focused on the ticking clock hanging above the window. 6:50. Going to the kitchen and being upright for five minutes made me want to pass out. There was no way I was going to school today.

Zac turned off the stove. "So, you're going to have to drive yourself to school or get a ride from the Lavato's. I got called into work."

Shit. I lay my head down. "I don't want to go to school," I said into my arms. My lips were smashed into my forearm, so to Zac it came out as, "Mmj dwat toga cool."

"Are you still mad about yesterday?" I heard the chair next to me scrape against the floor and creak as Zac sat down. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that and I'm sorry."

"It's okay." I brought my head back up and found out his cheery, humming self had merely been a facade. He had dark circles under his eyes and his actual eyes were a bit red like he had... cried? "What happened anyways?" I pried. "Between you and Ness when I went upstairs..."

He rubbed the back of neck, obviously stressed out. "Nothing you need to be worrying about Mile."

"Are you guys gonna be okay?" I rested my elbows on the table and my chin in my hands.

"Yeah. I'm going to talk to her after work. It'll be fine."

He seemed like he was trying to convince himself more than me. I bit my lip, worried. "I'm sorry Zac."

"You didn't do anything Mile. It's fine," he reiterated. "Don't you need to get ready for school?"

"Can I just stay home today?" I moved my lips just enough to form comprehensible words.

"You trying to be rebellious?"

"No. If I was I would've just skipped school and not told you anything. I don't feel good."

I noticed him subconsciously scoot his chair away from me a bit. "Do you think you got what Demi had?"

"No, I just didn't sleep at all last night." My eyelids began sagging at the mere mention of the word 'sleep', as if they knew what had been spoken.

"I don't know. Mom told me not to leave you alone when you're sick and I have to go to work and Ness usually..." he trailed off. Massaging his temples, he thought for a second. "Fuck it. You'll be fine alone right?"

I nodded. "I'm just gonna sleep."

"Call me if you need anything, I'll be back at two." He got up and snatched a handful of the bacon he made. "Later."

I got up and walked like a zombie back up to my room. Curling up in a ball and cuddling all my blankets close, I tried to get myself to sleep. Knowing that Zac was going to talk to Vanessa relaxed my mind and I was able to let sleep finally engulf me.

* * *

"Miley... Miley!"

I woke up, opening my eyes to the big blue sky above. Squinting into the sunlight I found myself staring into Nick's deep brown eyes. I sat up, gliding my hands through the cool blades of grass and releasing the fluffy dandelion seeds as my fingers scratched over them. As I took in the surroundings I realized I was laying in the middle of a soccer field. The freshly painted white lines and monstrous netted goals stood out around me.

Nick's face came into view again. "Mi..."

The only person that has ever used that nickname was Liam. "You called me Mi..." I breathed out, vocalizing what was on my mind.

"I always call you Mi." I lopsided grin spread across Nick's face. "Get up Mi," he urged, using the name again. It rolled off his tongue easily, so much smoother and more meaningful than when Liam said it. He held out his arms for me to pull myself up with. I grabbed on and allowed him to help me.

A gentle breeze blew my hair out of my face and ruffled the hem of my floral print sun dress. I tilted my face towards the sun, letting the warm rays soak my face.

Nick stood beside me, a soccer ball tucked in the crook of his arm. His free hand grasped onto mine. "Let's go."

I laced my fingers through his, loving the way our hands fit together. I could feel his guitar calloused fingertips graze the back of my hand. "Where are we going?"

"Paciugo," he said, letting the soccer ball drop to the ground and kicked it a few feet ahead.

I began swinging our arms in sync with our steps. "Why?"

"A guy can't take his girlfriend out for gelato?"

I gripped his hand tighter and quickened my pace. We neared the soccer ball and I gave it a kick. "I was just wondering. But gelato sounds good." I watched the ball fly towards the parking lot. "I'll race ya to the car."

I took off before he had a chance to answer. The beaded sandals I had on slowed me down, and before I could reach the parking lot I was grabbed from behind. The arms squeezed around my middle and lifted me off my feet. "Gotcha." Nick's voice tickled my ear.

I let myself melt into him, giggles escaping my lips. Kicking my legs, I stretched in vain for the white ball that lay inches from my outstretched toes. "Lemme down!" I squealed.

"Never!" He kept a firm grasp around my waist and began walking over to the car. The lot was full of beat up cars, some with smashed windshields and a few were without wheels. Nick held me up, weaving in and out of the wrecks and set me down at the side of a shiny vintage Mustang, the odd car out in the rubble. "Here we are m'lady." He opened the passenger door and waved me in.

After he shut my door he got in on the driver's side. "You're lame," I giggled as he buckled his seatbelt.

"I'm just being a gentleman," he defended, putting the key in and bringing the roaring engine to a start.

"It's still lame." I rolled down the window, the breeze blew in my face as we started down the road. He reached over and flipped on the radio. Paramore's 'The Only Exception' leaked from the speakers. "I love this song," I commented, putting my hand out the window and letting the wind whip through my fingers.

In response, Nick turned the volume up and then let his hand rest on my leg, just above my knee. I let my free hand drop as well, covering his with mine.

The music and the whistling of the wind was the only noise until we pulled into the Paciugo parking lot. After he turned the car off, the music kept playing. Nick opened the door for me and kept his arm around me as we entered the sweet smelling, little gelato shop. The music continued to play, Hayley Williams' voice repeating the lyrics over and over like a broken record.

Nick started ordering gelato but no sound came from his mouth. His lips were moving, but only the music was heard.

_You are the only exception_

He led me to a small table, his lips moving again. He was talking to me and I couldn't hear a word he said.

_You are the only exception_

I tried to speak, but no words came out.

_You are the only exception_

Suddenly our faces were centimeters from each other. His dark chocolate eyes bore into my blue ones. The music cut out. The next words he uttered were crystal clear.

"I'm the exception."

My chair started sliding backwards and away from Nick. All sound returned and it was loud. Voices were screaming. There was a bang. Then another. Followed by more, progressively getting louder as Nick grew smaller.

* * *

My eyelids flew open. It was all a dream. Except the banging was still there. I sat up, half asleep and confused. The banging stopped and I heard the front door open. Someone was banging on the door, it all made so much more sense now. Now that someone was in my house. Awesome. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and ventured out slowly.

"Zac!" A voice called from somewhere downstairs.

I breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't a rapist. It was Vanessa. "He's at work," I interjected as soon as I found Vanessa wandering around the living room.

She whirled around, startled by my entrance. "But his car is in the driveway... And aren't you supposed to be at school?"

I collapsed on the couch, hugging a pillow to my chest. "I didn't feel good."

She furrowed her brows, sitting down next to me. "Didn't.. as in past tense? Like you're feeling better now?"

"Mmhm. I didn't sleep last night. Insomnia or some shit..." I glanced at the clock by the TV. "Now that I've been sleeping for six hours I'm better."

"Did Zac say when he was coming home?" she asked, changing the conversation back to it's original topic.

"Two," I yawned.

"Good, because I need to talk to him."

My stomach clenched at the firmness of her voice. "Ness?"

"What sweetie?"

"You guys aren't going to break up, are you?"

Her face softened. "Is that why you couldn't sleep? You thought we were going to break up?"

I pressed my lips together. "Maybe."

"Miley, do you even know what our fight was about?"

"Was it Zac's fault?

"No. It was mine. A couple weeks ago I started talking about the future with him, you know like marriage, kids and all that. He kind of freaked out and said he wanted to wait like ten years before starting a family. I'm going to be freaking 36 in ten years which is stupid. There is no way I'm waiting that long."

"You fought over that?"

"No, we fought because the last time we had sex I told him not to wear a condom because it would 'ruin the moment'. I told him I was on birth control but I'm not right now."

"You're dumb."

"I'm well aware. Zac found out about that yesterday and that's why we were fighting."

"Wait, are you pregn-"

"Oh god no. I have my period right now. That's part of the reason it escalated so much. I was PMSing like no other yesterday. I feel bad and that's why I'm here. I want to apologize."

I smiled, putting my arms around Vanessa and hugging her tight. "I'm just happy you're not breaking up." I honestly was extremely relieved. Vanessa's the older sister I never had and the mother figure to make up for the one that's never around. Losing her would suck.

"So, how was your nap?" She changed the subject yet again.

"I had this really weird dream about Nick."

She raised her eyebrows suggestively. "Really?"

"Oh! I forgot to tell you, he asked me out yesterday."

"He did? What did you say? I didn't think you'd break your rule this quickly."

"Of course I followed my rule. This year's important. But we were dating in my dream and it was nice. Then it got all cryptic and weird. 'The Only Exception' kept playing and then he told me he was the exception. Then it got all creepy and your lovely knocking woke me up."

"Hmmm." She leaned back on the couch. "Maybe your mind is trying to tell you something."

* * *

**Welllll... Please review! 10 would make 2011 start off wonderfully. If you want to see more of anything, tell me! And I will try my hardest not to make you wait this long again. **

**Happy New Year to all of you and a Happy late Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/that one holiday Joe Jonas made up that I can't remember the name of..**

**xoxo**

**Shmadders**

**twitter . com / madelinepackard**

**:)  
**


	9. Chapter 8

**Well this took way too long to update. And I apologize for that. Thank you for everyone that's waited patiently and hasn't given up on me. The good news is that I'm playing soccer again and therefore have more inspiration. You should also know that the next chapter is already written. And... this is the longest chapter I have written, so I hope you like it! Ignore any typos.. It's 2am.**

* * *

When two-o-clock finally rolled around Zac hadn't shown up yet. "You said two, right?" Vanessa checked, drumming her nails on the end table anxiously.

"Mmmhmmm…" I kept my eyes glued to the screen as another episode of 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' began. "Do you think I'd be bad at soccer if my ass was as big as Kim's?" I wondered aloud, flopping my head over in Vanessa's direction.

"Maybe." She was silent for a moment, the only sound being that of her nails clacking against the wood. "Do you think I should call him?" she finally asked.

"He'll be here soon. He said he gets out of work at two, he's probably on his way home now…"

She rested her head back on the couch. "Ughh."

We heard the garage door open and V snapped to attention. The door to the house opened and we heard Zac tromp in. "Mile? I need a shitload of Neosporin!" He came into the living room, but stopped in his tracks when he saw Vanessa and immediately hid his arms behind his back. "Ness… what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to apologize and talk to you about yesterday." She stood up. "Why do you need Neosporin?"

Zac brought out his arms sheepishly. He had disgusting road rash on both elbows. "I kinda, uh, fell skateboarding," he admitted.

V lifted up one of his arms, inspecting it. "You skateboarded to work? You haven't skated in years. That wasn't very smart." She smirked, gently running her fingers over the raw wound.

"Neither is lying about taking birth control," he retorted, keeping a serious expression.

I turned away from the TV and watched Vanessa. Her smile fell and she dropped his arm. "At least let me clean those." She motioned towards his elbows. "They'll get infected if I don't." Her voice was soft, pleading.

Zac reluctantly followed Nessa to the bathroom, leaving me alone with the Kardashians. I kept the volume at low but no yelling erupted from behind the closed door. It seemed like forever as they were talking. The episode ended and another started up. I checked the clock by the TV. It was 2:40. Then it hit me. Soccer. I had soccer practice. If I didn't practice, it cut my playing time. I sprung up quickly, standing still for a bit to see if my headache was gone; it was. Once I decided I was fine, I sprinted upstairs to get ready. I came back down fully dressed in my soccer stuff to Zac waiting for me, his elbows all bandaged up.

He raised his eyebrows. "You're going to soccer?"

"Duh."

"I thought you were sick."

"I slept; I'm better, let's go. We're going to be late." I picked up my bag, throwing it over my shoulder.

"I don't know Mile…" he glanced over at Nessa. "I don't want you to push it."

Nessa came over and placed a hand on my forehead. "No fever. She's fine, take her." She gave Zac a knowing look and then a peck on the cheek.

I smiled at their antics. "Zaccy, let's go."

As Zac pulled into the parking lot I spotted a few girls already warming up. He swerved into a spot and I hopped out, walking quickly over towards the field. I had barely entered the fenced in area when I was pounced on from behind.

"Where the hell were you today, ya little skipper?" Demi screeched, hanging on my back.

"Sleeping," I answered, holding onto her legs and piggybacking her over to the shed. "I didn't sleep last night, felt like shit this morning, but I'm all good now."

Demi slid off my back. "Good, because we're sleeping over at Tay's"

Since it was Friday, practice only went until five. Shorter did not mean easier in any way shape of from. Our game against Redfield is next Wednesday. They're top in our conference and they were state runner-ups last year. To prepare us, Kevin kindly forced us to do suicides and frozen pushups. When he finally announced that practice was over, Tay bounded up to me.

"Sleepover, sleepover, sleepover!" she sang, bouncing up and down. Demi walked over with her bag and Taylor turned towards her, bouncing more. "Demetria! Sleepover, sleepover, sleepover!"

"Sleepover?" Zac's deep voice questioned behind us.

"Yes." I wrapped my arms around Taylor to stop her jittering. "At Tay's house."

"When did I agree to this?" Zac raised an eyebrow.

"Right now," I tried.

Zac hesitated. Tay wriggled free from me. "Miley has to come or I'll die! Plus, it'll give you and V a night alone." She winked suggestively, nudging his shoulder.

Because of that specific factor, Zac and Vanessa ended up agreeing I could go. I waited for Demi and Selena to pick me up outside my front door. I leaned against the side of the house, squinting into the setting sun. The Lavato's car pulled into the driveway and Demi blared the horn; even though I was clearly ready.

"You excited?" Demi asked as soon as I crawled into the backseat.

"We we we so excited!" Selena chimed in, giggling.

"It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday…" I sang obnoxiously.

After digging through her purse, Sel pulled out her ipod and seconds later Rebecca Black's auto-tuned voice was blasting out of the speakers. A couple blocks from the Swifft's house I turned my attention out the window. A curly headed boy was running shirtless. It was Nick.

I rolled down the window. "NIIIIICK!"

Sel stuck her head out the window. "Put a shirt on!" He just smirked as we drove by. She rolled her window back up and turned back to me. "Does your rule count being friends with benefits?"

"I don't know. The need to decide that hasn't come up."

"It has now! Dude is ripped!" I felt my cheeks redden a bit as Sel turned back around. Nick DID look really good with his shirt off.

"You're blushing," Demi noticed, glancing in the rearview mirror.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and buried my face in them. "Am not."

I heard Demi laugh and I held my position until I felt the car stop at Taylor's house. "We're here!" Demi announced. I uncurled my body and got out. Without bothering to ring the doorbell, the three of us walked into the Swifft's house.

Mr. Swifft stuck his head out from their computer room. "Hey girls, Tay's up in her room."

Demi bounded up the stairs ahead of Sel and I, barging into Tay's room. "SLEEPOVER!" she shouted.

Taylor let out a high pitched scream that soon dissolved into giggles as Sel and I entered the room. Demi was sprawled across Tay who was flat as a pancake on her bed.

A low chuckle sounded from the Mac laptop sitting on the pillow. "Keep this webcam on all night…" Joe's smooth voice leaked out. I saw his smiling face on the screen.

Tay struggled underneath Demi, trying to catch her breath. "I'll text you later Joey." Using her one free hand, she logged off of Skype and shut the laptop.

I threw my bag in the corner and took a flying leap onto the bed, landing awkwardly on Demi and squishing Taylor down further into the mattress. "Dog pile!

Tay flailed relentlessly but gave up after a few seconds. "You guys are fat," she whined. "Help me Selly!"

Sel looked up from her phone, pausing her texting thumbs. Without a word she came and plopped on top of my back, resuming her texting once she sat down.

"GIRLS, DINNER!" Mrs. Swifft called from downstairs.

"OFF! OFF!" Taylor wriggled around again. "I'M HUNGRY!"

"When are you not hungry?" Demi questioned, not moving from her position.

"I'm hungry too…" I put in, rolling to the side causing Sel to topple to the floor and the rest of followed into a discombobulated heap.

Tay sprang to her feet. "Stir fry time." She sped out the door.

The kitchen was thick with the smell of homemade Chinese cuisine. Mrs. Swifft set steaming plates of stir fry in front of each of us. "Eat a lot, I made too much. I thought Austin was going to me home, but he went out." She sighed, taking a seat at the table with us.

"Austin sucks," Tay said through a mouthful of food. Austin is her little brother. He's a freshmen and is a little meat head.

Mr. Swifft pulled up a chair with his plate of food. "Girls, how was practice today? Taylor won't tell me anything. She's too preoccupied with her little nerdy boyfriend."

"He's not nerdy!"

"Are we really going to talk about soccer right now?" Mrs. Swifft cut in, giving a look to her husband.

"It was just a question," he said, putting up his hands in defense.

I swallowed a piece of chicken before adding, "I like talking about soccer."

Demi threw a pepper on my plate. "Of course you do. You and Zac probably strategize ways for you to become the next Mia Hamm every night."

"You and dad talk about soccer all the time too Dem," Selena reminded her.

"And what does poor Selena do when all that is going on?" Mrs. Swifft sympathized.

Sel shrugged. "My mom just tells me I'm pretty."

"Muy bonita!" Tay chimed in, proud of her Spanish speaking.

"Some of those other girls think Zac and that Kevin kid are muy bonita," Mr. Swifft joked. "I see them making googly eyes at them on the sidelines."

"Actually, they're muy guapo. You just said they were very pretty the feminine way," Demi corrected.

"You stupid Dad," Tay commented.

"I'm smart enough to know Jennette and Miranda shouldn't be on the team. No offense to Zac's decision making Miley," he shot back. He's definitely one of the hardcore soccer parents. He comes to all the games and always yells at the refs. He's kind of like a big, angry cheerleader.

"No offense taken. I agree completely. Jennette can't even throw the ball in right and Miranda runs sideways."

"Wow that was harsh!" Taylor looked at me, fake appalled.

Demi scraped the remaining rice pieces off her plate. "That was delicious Mrs. Swifft."

"Mmhmm," Sel agreed. "But I'm too full to finish." She pushed her half eaten plate away from her.

"Anorexic," Tay teased, poking her with the back of her fork. She stood up.

"Waaaiit…" I complained, taking a moment to put more food in my mouth. "I'm still eating," I added in between chewing.

"Take it with you." Tay grabbed Demi, Selena and her own plates and took them to the sink. "Let's go to the basement."

"I'm making cookies for later!" Mrs. Swifft called after us as we escaped down the basement steps, shutting the door behind us.

"Okay." Tay ran over and flung herself on the futon. "I wanna tell you guys about Joe."

Selena climbed on the futon too, putting her feet on Tay's lap and laying her head on a pillow. "Have you fucked him yet?"

"No," Tay responded, smacking her in the leg. "I'm not a slut like you."

"Meanie…" Sel buried her face in the pillow.

I sat down in the swivel chair by the computer, plate still in hand. "So are you guys going out meow?"

"Well," she took a dramatic pause. "I was going to tell you during Creative Writing, but you didn't come to school."

I chucked chicken in her general direction. "Tell me."

"Okay, so you know we went out to dinner on Tuesday and he was really sweet. Then he came over on the snow day and…" she stopped, sitting up straighter and grabbing onto Selena's legs. "We were making a snow fort and we started having a snow ball fight. He tackled me out of nowhere was basically on top of me. He just stared at me and he didn't have his glasses on and his eyes…" she paused again, sighing. "They're so pretty. Anyways, he just leaned down and kissed me. I opened my eyes for a second accidentally. I was so confused."

"Dork," Demi interjected.

"Shut up, I kissed back once I figured out what was going on. He told me he really liked me and then… Yesterday we went out to dinner after the game. He took me to the Chancery and he told stuff about where he used to live and stuff. Did you know they have another brother?"

Well that was news for me. "Nick never said anything about that…" I put my plate down on the floor. "That's weird."

"Yeah, he's seven. His name is Frankie. Anywaayss… After dinner we made out in his car."

Selena scoffed. "And I'm the slut?"

"We didn't have sex!" Taylor reiterated loudly. "We just made out and he kinda touched my boobs."

"Are you sure you want to go this fast with him Tay?" Demi asked, concern evident in her voice. "You know what happened with Alex.

By Alex, she meant Alex Pettyfer. Tay met him over spring break when she was a sophomore and he was a senior. She lost her virginity to him last year and they were basically inseparable the whole time they were together. But then, last summer he decided to transfer colleges and moved to Colorado. Taylor was really heartbroken. She went into this weird funk for a while. She cried all the time and definitely wasn't the crazy person we were used to. Once school started up again she started getting better and now she's back to normal. Nevertheless, bringing up Alex was always a sensitive subject.

Tay narrowed her eyes. "Who the fuck cares what happened with Alex. Joe isn't Alex," she said angrily.

Everything was silent. It really was a touchy topic. Selena was practically falling asleep and Demi was looking down, most likely regretting the fact that she had brought this up. "Daayyummm," I drew out in attempt to lighten the mood.

Selena snorted a laugh, opening her eyes. "Nice Miley."

Demi, who was sitting in a chair to the right of Taylor, leaned over and hugged her. "I'm sorry I brought him up Tay Tay."

Tay hugged back. "It's okay. I'm not going to go too fast with Joe, I swear. I'm not looking for a serious relationship my senior year."

"Just be careful," Demi warned. "We don't want you to be all sad again."

"I don't like being sad either," Tay agreed. "That's why we don't say the A word. Now Miley, please inform us about you and Nicholas. How's he taking rejection?"

I spun around in my chair. "We're friends. He's not bitter about me telling him no at all. And last night when 'Zanessa' were having their screaming fight, he let me call him. We were probably on the phone for like an hour. I was upset and he took my mind off of it. It was really sweet." I smiled at the memory, spinning myself again.

"That's so cute. You guys should make babies!" Tay exclaimed bouncing in her seat.

For a split second I imagined what a child produced by me and Nick would look like. It would have curly hair for sure and either inherit by big blue eyes or Nick's mysterious, chocolate-y brown ones. They'd actually be pretty cute. I snapped myself out of it. "No babies now. Later…" I joked. "Oh, and when I was sleeping today, he was in my dream and it was very strange. " I sat back, relaying all of what happened in my ominous dream.

"You want him. This just proves it!" Demi stated gleefully. "Just go out with him. Your rule shouldn't apply to him. I mean, his brother's the frickin' coach. He won't ruin your soccer."

"I know he won't make me skip practice like Liam. It's more the mental aspect. You saw how distracted I was yesterday. If we were dating, it would be twenty times worse and I can't afford to suck this year."

Selena yawned. "Milez, I don't think you could suck at soccer if you tried." She propped herself up on her elbows. "And Nick really likes you. I was talking to him in Astronomy and he doesn't shut up about you. He lets me rant about David and I let him talk about you. Today he was all concerned about last night and why you weren't at school. He also said you look super hot when you play soccer."

I contained my smile the best I could. Even though I had the idea that dating is off-limits until summer. I couldn't help but feel butterflies when finding out that Nick thought about me like that. "Still…" I kept my composure. "I'm not breaking my rule. If we both feel the same way in June, then we can go out."

"That's such a long time from now," Tay whined. "June is when I graduate and that seems like forever away…" she exaggerated. Tay's never been good with patience. It's like her volume, just something she can't control.

Selena slid back down into a laying position, turning her head to lay her cheek on the pillow. "David's graduating too…"

I put my feet to the ground, making the chair turn left and right but never letting it spin all the way around. I always had to be moving. Sleeping all day only added to my pent up energy. "That's why high school relationships suck. Everyone graduates and never sees each other again. It's not like we're going to find our soul mates now."

"We might," Tay argued. She was a hopeless romantic despite what she went through with Alex. "Plenty of people are high school sweethearts."

"Yeah, like my parents," I said, keeping a pessimistic outlook. "That turned out lovely."

"What about David and Selena?" Tay turned towards Sel. "You're sweethearts."

"I don't know…" Sel groaned. "He's being a butthead right now."

"You're just mad he won't have sex with you," Demi revealed.

"It's been over a month," Sel admitted, taking her legs back from Tay and curling into a ball.

"You're still on birth control, right?" Tay asked.

"Mmmhmm." Sel sighed and stood up. "I have to pee." She crossed the room and clomped up the stairs.

"She seems sad," Tay commented, stretching out her legs in the empty space.

Demi brushed it off with the flick of her wrist. "Just David issues. They'll get over it. They always do."

"Let's talk about your boy drama Demetria," Tay suggested.

"There's nothing to say." She kept her gaze away from me or Tay. "You know my mom asked me if I wanted birth control too… you know, when Selena got it…"

"So basically you can have sex whenever!" Tay poked Demi excitedly.

Demi pushed her away. "No, I told her I didn't want it. I'm not having sex with anyone. I haven't had a boyfriend since freshmen year. Selena's the whore that needs it." She bit her lip. "I'm the ugly twin."

Tay's mouth dropped open. "YOU ARE NOT!"

Demi winced. "Volume Tay, we're indoors. And I know I'm not ugly, I just feel like the ugly twin. Like the spotlight is on Selena and not me."

"Just cuz you guys are twins doesn't mean you have to be the same. You're both pretty but you're different. She likes being with David and you're athletic." I sent her a glance. "The guys at our school are dumb."

"If I was a guy, I'd screw you," Tay threw in.

"Oh thanks… It's fine though. Lucas is actually talking to me again."

"He's finally forgiven you for shattering his heart after you refused to ask him to turnabout?" I gasped in fake astonishment.

A smile crept onto her face. "Yeah. At first it was weird but I kinda missed talking to him and texting him…"

"Ohhh! Yay! Boyfriend for Demi!" Tay squealed.

"Don't make a big deal yet. I don't know if he still likes me."

Demi was definitely happy about it. She never throws herself at any guys so she thinks they don't like her. I know for a fact that both Justin and Taylor L. have had crushes on her. She's just been too stubborn to admit that people actually wanted her. It was nice seeing her finally take interest in someone. I heard the door open and I looked up the staircase. Selena made her way down the stairs slowly, clutching onto the railing tightly.

"You okay?" I asked. Her face was pale and her makeup a bit smeared.

She shook her head. "I just threw up."

"You're pregnant!" Taylor leapt up, jumping to an idiotic conclusion. I shook my head at her.

"And you said you weren't gonna get sick," Demi teased.

Sel shrugged, giving a weak smile. "Can you take me home?"

"Okay, but if you puke in the car I'm going to kill you." Demi dug the keys from her pocket. "I'll be back." She got up reluctantly, wrapping an arm around Selena and taking her back upstairs.

"Feel better Sellypoo!" Tay shouted after them.

"I love you!" I called.

Once the door was shut again Tay came over by me, turning on the computer. "Facebook stalk time? I wanna show you Joe's page."

I swiveled my chair so it was facing the screen. "I never thought of adding Nick. What if he has fifty crazy ex-girlfriends I don't know about? What's on Joe's?"

Tay brought up Facebook, quickly typing in her password. "Just this slut named Ashley, I'll show you." She went to Joe's page and clicked on one of the albums he was in. A picture of Joe and the Ashley girl kissing on the beach showed up.

"That doesn't look that slutty. It's kinda cute."

"Wait." Tay clicked on Ashley's name and scrolled through her profile pictures. "First of all, her page is completely open, meaning she wants creeps to find her. Second, she dresses like a whore." She opened a raunchy selfie where Ashley was only wearing a bra and making an attempt at a 'sexy face'. "And…" she started going through more pictures. "She is a whore." She stopped on a picture of three Jersey Shore looking guys basically licking her boob. "Joe went out with her. For two years."

I shot her a grin. "Well he's def lowered his standards with you."

She smacked my arm. "Shut up! I mean, I'm not self-centered, but I am definitely a step up from _that_."

"I was kidding Tay…" I grabbed the mouse from her. "I wanna stalk Nick now."

"Do you think he's put his name as Nick or Nicholas?" Tay questioned.

"Nick," I decided, typing it in and clicking on a profile that looked vaguely like him. Luckily, it was the right one. His profile picture was him posing next to a pink convertible. Judging by his surroundings, it looked like he was in Graceland. He likes Elvis… classy.

"He's single!" Tay pointed to the sidebar.

Well that's good. I scrolled down his wall. "'Missin' that Mississippi weather,'" I read off before clicking on the one comment. "Come home, winky face." I quoted, wrinkling up my nose. "Who the hell is Samantha Barks?"

"She wrote on his wall too."

I found her name and looked… 'went to the park today.. its still carved in the tree :) I mish ya Nicky! Ps… I saw Frankie, he lost another tooth!'

"Click on her!" Tay demanded.

I paused over her name as something caught my eye. It was labeled from a month ago. 'Nick Jonas went from in a relationship to single'. I pressed on Samantha's name, growing impatient as the computer took its sweet ass time loading her page.

Tay furrowed her brows when noticing her pro-pic. "Wow, she's cool." It was a beauteous Mac selfie. She was casually throwing up a peace sign and had her lips pursed in a pout. The picture was also in sepia, she was clearly an artsy person. "Uh-oh, look…" she pressed her finger to the screen, leaving a smudgy print.

'I miss you too Sammy! Call me tonight so we can catch up :)' I read to myself. Nick wrote that on her wall. Yesterday. I clicked back to the homepage. "I don't like this."

"Oh, come on… If you were dating Liam still and he suddenly moved to Alaska you would be doing the exact same thing."

I pondered that for a second. "Shut up, you keep calling the Ashley chick a whore." Truth was, I probably would have done the same thing because I was completely infatuated with Liam last year. That still didn't help the sudden jealousy I was feeling. Plus, I was not exactly enjoying the fact that Nick 'forgot' to mention the fact that he had a little brother. I mean, we shared about our families. Leaving out a brother isn't normal; a cat maybe, but not a brother. I needed to have a little talk with Nicholas about Frankie and about his tree carving buddy, Sammy.

"I'm back!" Demi announced, clambering down the stairs, a cookie in hand. She pulled up a chair and plunked down next to me. "Who ya facebook stalking?"

"Nick and Joe," Tay answered simply. "They used to date whores."

Demi took a bite of cookie. "Can we stalk Captain Red? We play Redfield next week."

Captain Red is the captain, (surprise,) of the Redfield team. She's a senior and probably their best player. Her nickname not only illuminated her superior status on the team, but also the fact that she has the most repulsive red hair I have ever seen in my life. I have nothing against Gingers, but she is like the Devil. She's a bit on the husky side, has a man voice and plays some of the dirtiest soccer I've seen. The main point is that we all hate her.

"Yes!" Tay enthused, immediately typing in her real name, Katia Klenger.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out quickly. Zac's name loomed on the screen, the words underneath revealed the best news I've heard all day.

'Mom called. She's taking us to Mexico for spring break. Ness, Ash & the Joanas's are coming too. We leave the day after redfield.'

Mexico + Nick = heaven… or possibly trouble.

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**Ehh, this was a filler chapter but there is some good stuff yet to come. Please review... would make me extremely happy and give me some incentive to start typing up the next chapter. :)**

**Follow me on twitter! madelinepackard**

**xoxo**

**Shmadders  
**


	10. Chapter 9

**Againnn.. soo sorry for the late update. I said I had this part written.. I did... Just not the beginning and it took an obnoxiously long time to write. Soccer is finally over and we were actually good. Our record was 10-3. We usually suck so that was amazing. We beat our rivals and the team that Redfield is based off of, so the Redfield girls mentioned are based off of girls from that team.. who I hate. Hah.. enjoyyyy**

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Time always moves slower when you're waiting for something exciting. It's like watching a bag of popcorn pop, hands down the longest three minutes of my life; especially if I stare at the microwave. Every moment felt like the pop of a kernel, one step closer to Mexico. On the contrary, one step closer to Mexico was one bigger step closer to the Redfield game. That sped time up, like anything that I seem to be dreading, like a precalc test on analytical trigonometry. It was a back and forth system. Time took forever, but when today turned into tomorrow it all seemed to be going too fast. Stupid Redfield. As much as I want to beat them and as pumped as I am that our season is starting out so well, there was still a fear in the back of my mind. This fear that the teams we've already played aren't actually a test of our skill; that we weren't ready; that _I_ wasn't good enough.

Wednesday came creeping up soon enough. We squeezed in a 2-0 win against Minomee Falls on Monday. Tuesday night marked the beginning of my pregame precautions. I'm usually not superstitious but with so much riding on this game, I wasn't about to risk it. I shaved my legs and plucked my eyebrows to ensure perfect aerodynamics. I slept with my Varsity letter and Zac's jersey he wore when he won state under my pillow. Wednesday, I put my hair in a tight braid, (more aerodynamic issues) and refused to eat any of the junk food in my treat bag.

Nick made fun of me when he heard what I was doing. He said I was insane, but also called me cute for doing it. Insert giggly, blushing face here.

After school I ate a bowl of organic cereal and a huge carrot. Even though it's nasty, healthy food always gives me more energy. Minutes before we left for the game I YouTube-ed 'greatest soccer moments' and watched Ronaldo, Beckham and Mia Hamm score game winning goals. In the car I blasted country music- like really intense pickup truck, banjo, tractor, cowboy music. Zac knows my routine well and since I always score and play well when I do it, he goes along with it.

We got to the field in a hurry, the windshield wipers slashing away the small drizzle that was beginning to escalate. "You ready kid?" Zac asked as we both stepped outside.

"I wanna win so bad," I admitted, pulling my bag from the trunk. I looked up at the dark, grey cloud, letting the tiny drops hit my face.

He threw an arm loosely around my shoulders as we started walking towards the field. "You guys got this; just play your game Mile."

I could feel a rash of goosebumps break out on my legs as the wind blew harshly. "It's chilly," I commented as I plopped down next to Demi.

"Thanks Captain Obvious," she teased, velcroing her shin guard into place. "You in super intense soccer mode?"

"Mmmhmm…"

"Oh good. We all need to be."

The drizzle didn't let up through warmups and intensified as the starters huddled on the field.

"I am not fucking losing to Redfield my senior year," Tay began her 'inspirational' talk.

"Do not let anyone push you without retaliation and everyone _needs_ to mark on defense," Blake emphasized.

"Maya, you take Katia," Tiffany put it, putting the huge responsibility of marking Captain Red on the shoulders of the freshman. Maya nodded, looking terrified.

"And Miley should take Ingrid," Blake cut in.

I made a face but nodded too. Ingrid is this high-strung looking skinny bitch. She's pretty, I guess, but she's one of those people that always look angry. She wears her hair in a stupid braid on the side of her head, elbows people all the time and thinks doing fifty-thousand step overs in a row is sweet. Newsflash, it makes you look dumb. But she is fast. Really fast. She's basically on the same hate level as Captain Red/Katia. And now that I think of it, she looks like that Sammy girl. Nick's Sammy.

I had to shake Nick out of my head. He can't be a distraction. I can't let myself do this _again_. I looked over at our surprisingly large group of fans. His curly mop was nowhere to be found. We finished our talk and I took my position on the far right side of the field; closest to the bleachers. The Redfield girls were in a circle, holding hands and praying. I'm all for Jesus, but I honestly don't think he's going to help them win. He has starving children in Africa to take care of.

I turned back to the bleachers and there he was; Nicholas. He was holding a sign above his head. My eyes traveled up to the bold, obviously boy-made, #15 scrawled ginormously on the paper. I checked my own jersey and was reassured by the red fifteen blaring back at me. A huge smile stretched across my face and the nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach began to fade; the opposite of what I thought his presence would do to me. Redfield filed out onto the field and I tried to snap back to attention.

"GO MILEY!" I heard Nick bellow. I spun back around to find him waving his sign around like a crazy person. It was sweet and almost a little embarrassing. I felt color seep into my cheeks but smiled anyways. I was ready.

Redfield came out strong, blasting through our lineup and getting a shot off in their first possession. Luckily, Mandy snagged the ball and prevented them from getting up right away. Demi eventually muscled the ball away from Captain Red and sent it diagonally for me. Now on the attack, I sprinted down the sidelines. I nutmegged the defender and blew right past her. I got to the corner and saw their defense closing in on me. Cutting the ball quickly out of danger, I wound up crossed it into the middle. Unfortunately, nothing came out of the play and I was forced to start racing back to our half of the field and cover my player.

The next fifteen minutes of the game remained stagnant. The ball flip-flopped between both our teams. At the twenty-third minute, Captain Red had the ball; this was because she had hip checked Maya to the ground to get it. Ingrid, my mark, elbowed me hard in the side and took off down the sidelines. Since I had Ingrid covered, Katia sent the ball to the right side. Meaghan reacted too late and left her player wide open. I watched in panic as the girl catapulted the ball towards the goal. It soared past Mandy's outstretched arms and crashed into the net. Fuck.

The Redfield girls went nuts. Kevin recognized Meaghan's fatigued and pulled her off, subbing Keke in. I sighed, they can't win this. They're too bitchy. Tay took the ball back up to the center line. "Let's go East!" she hollered in effort to keep everyone pumped.

"LET'S GO!" I heard someone cheer super enthusiastically from the stands. Joe was standing in front of everyone trying to initiate a wave to start. He too was holding a homemade sign; for Taylor no doubt.

Even with our exuberant fans cheering us on, the game resumed its old play, an even match up, no team better than the other.

Near the end of the half, I captured the ball from a goal kick. Controlling it, I scanned the field before me. I started down the line with Ingrid right behind me. As usual, I felt her elbows come in contact with my back. I kept my balance and lowered my shoulder as she came to my side. As she went for another hit I picked up speed, allowing my shoulder to knock her on the ground. In my joy of pushing her down I slowed enough to let the defense get to me. I took the ball all the way to the end line, basically trapped by the field boundaries and the heel-kicking defender. Spinning quickly I took the ball around the girl and sent a lofting bangoo pass towards the penalty kick line. Demi went for the kick but a shove on the back from Red caused the ball to bounce off her knee instead. Flying into the upper nineties, the ball sank into the back of the net. A roar erupted from the stands as well as on the field. After practically tackling Demi to the ground, we resumed play.

The buzzer sounded for halftime with the score tied up. Redfield, one. Us, one.

"Well…" Kevin began. "What do you think girls?"

I raised my hand quickly. Kevin nodded in my direction. "I have to pee," I said, sharing the pressing issue that has been plaguing me for the last five minutes of the half.

Most of the girls laughed. Zac rolled his eyes, making the face he always makes when he's questioning how we're even related. He pointed towards the bathrooms. "Sprint."

I took off across the field to the bathrooms, slowing as I neared the bleachers. Opening the field gate I passed concessions and bumped into Nick.

"Milez!" He was holding his homemade sign in one hand and a box of popcorn in the other. "Did you see my sign?"

I giggled; he looked like such a nerd. "Yes. I love it," I answered, shuffling around a bit. I really did have to pee.

"Why are you over here? Don't you need to go listen to Kevin yell at you?"

"Kevin doesn't yell at me," I shot back. "Zac does. And I gotta pee."

He gave me a look. "I'm not stopping you."

I smiled, a tad embarrassed. "Be right back."

After finally relieving myself I walked out to see Nick still standing there. Alone. Just looking adorable. "You're still here?" I teased.

"You said, 'be right back' so I assumed that also meant stay." He shrugged, tossing his popcorn into the garbage. "I think you need to be a little nicer to your biggest fan."

"I already complimented your sign. What more do you want me to do?"

"I'm just messing around. You're playing amazing out there Mi."

He said it. He called me Mi. Like my dream. It wasn't awkward or weird or anything. It was just like my dream, natural; like he should've been calling me that all along. "Thanks…" I bit my lip. "I should probably get back over there now."

"You probably should," he agreed before pulling into a hug. "Good luck out there." As I pulled back he leaned back, placing a quick kiss on my cheek. His sweet gesture sent a blush across my face as I pulled away again. I ran back towards my team, sending him a toothy grin over my shoulder.

"Now the refs aren't calling much so I want you girls to be pushing back," Kevin advised as I got back over. "I don't want to see anything dirty though. If I see anything dangerous, I'm pulling you. I'd rather you girls win this game fairly."

"Do you girls want to win?" Zac asked, stepping in.

"YES!" We chorused like a good team should.

After a couple warm up sprints and a cheer, we rejoined Redfield out on the field.

Ten minutes into the second half Kevin moved me up to right forward in hopes that having me, Demi, and Tay up top would help us score. Enjoying my time at forward, I watched a skirmish near our goal from the half line. The ball was hit out and Blake set it up for a goal kick.

Judging the depth of the kick carefully, I positioned myself in front of Captain Red. Jumping into the air, I managed to flick the ball behind me with my head. Spinning around immediately I followed the ball, running as fast as I could. As I neared the ball a tug on my jersey slowed my run. A leg hooked around mine and jerked me off balance. My foot bent, rolling my ankle as I was shoved to the ground.

Pain pierced through my ankle, a whimpered, "Ow," escaping my lips as I crashed down. "Fuck…" I murmured as unwanted tears clouded my vision. Quickly blinking them away, I heard the tweet of the ref's whistle and I watched as he pulled out a yellow card for Captain Red.

"Are you serious? That was clean! That was CLEAN! Ughhh!" Captain Red pulled her jersey over her mouth as she screamed/grunted/growled.

The red pointed towards their bench. "You need to go sit down."

"This is bullshit!"

During her little temper tantrum I tried getting up, failing miserably. Demi was at my side immediately. I tried standing again but she pushed me back down. "Stay…" she warned. She turned towards the bench. "Zac!" Motioning for him to come over, she kept a firm hand on my shoulder, not letting me up.

Zac jogged his way over, Scott hustling behind him. "What's wrong?" he asked, hovering over me.

"Nothing," I responded, making another attempt in standing.

Demi forced me down again. "She's hurt."

"What's hurt?" Scott butt in.

"Nothing," I persisted.

Zac furrowed his brow. "Demi, let her up." Demi reluctantly released me from her death grip. Careful not to use my right ankle, I hoisted myself back up with my left leg. Zac noticed right away. "Miley, put weight on both your legs."

Determined not to let him find out I distributed the weight evenly on both sides, bracing myself for the pain. I stood steady for a moment before my right leg buckled, my ankle not able to support me. "Oww…" I moaned, beginning to crumple back down. Zac caught me before I collapsed and lifted me back to my feet, holding me there.

"I told you," Demi stated.

"I'm going to need to take a look at that," Scott decided.

"Okay." I agreed, biting my lip as I fought off tears. I wasn't about to cry because it hurt, I just didn't want to get off the field. I wanted to play and I wanted to win. Zac put my arm around his shoulder and Scott supported the other side. We made our way off the field slowly. When we finally crossed the white painted line they sat me down at the end of the bench. Zac slid in next to me and Scott knelt in front of me.

I held out my right leg for Scott and he began untying my shoe. "Let's see how bad this is…" He continued pulling off my sock and gently tugged off my shin guard. "It's swelling already," he observed, prodding around the tender area with his finger. "Tell me where it hurts the most." Starting with the inside, he pressed down in random spots around the bone. When I didn't say anything he moved over the front of my ankle and on to the outside. When he pushed down a little left of the bone, the initial throbbing pain I got when I rolled it came. Pressing my lips together, I stifled a yelp.

"I think you found it," Zac said, noticing my reaction.

Scott went on poking around. "So who got you Milez? I wasn't watching."

I scoffed, curling my toes when he touched the spot again. "You weren't watching?"

"I finding out the score of Kyle's game," he defended, bending my foot into different directions. Kyle's his boyfriend and the coach for the worst team in our conference.

Zac snorted. "Of course you were."

"So, who did it?"

"Take a wild stab at it." I glared over at the Redfield bench where Captain Red was sulking and sucking on her water bottle.

"Captain Red?" he guessed, fully aware of the wonderful nickname I'd given Katia.

I nodded. "I hate her."

"She hates you too," he joked, standing up.

"What do you think?" Zac asked, actually looking concerned.

"It's hard to be one hundred percent correct, but it's mostly likely a sprain. The severity of it I'm not sure of. Miley doesn't really have a reliable measure on pain."

"So… Can I go back in the game?" I looked up at him hopefully.

"Oh god no, I want you elevating it. I'll go get some ice to bring down that swelling." Scott walked back over to his things.

I looked back out on the field. The score was still tied and Redfield was stating to gain momentum. Kevin sent Miranda in for me and she was getting beat up. Over in the bleachers, Nick has put his sign down. I turned to Zac. "I can go back in again, it doesn't hurt that bad, I swear."

He sighed. "Just rest it Mile. We don't need you hurting it even more. I know you want to play but it's not worth getting seriously injured."

"But I…"

"Here you go!" Scott reappeared with a clear plastic bag filled up halfway with ice.

I reached out and grabbed the knotted end. "Thanks." Zac stood up allowing me to prop my leg up on the bench. I lay the bag down on the swollen part. The freezing ice was a shock against my warm skin but the pain was slowing fading away. Allowing to wallow in my injury, Zac went back over by Kevin and Scott returned to his medical equipment.

Nicole slid down to me, stopping when she reached my outstretched leg. "So, Scott thinks you sprained it?"

"Yeah." I readjusted the bag before it teetered off.

Nicole mean-mugged Captain red who was back out on the field. "That stupid bitch."

I laughed. "I know. Can you please punch her in the face?"

"I will if Kevin puts me in, which-"

She was cut off by Kevin's frustrated request. "Nicole! In for Miranda!"

Nicole jumped to her feet. "Good luck," I called to her as she pulled off her sweatshirt and rushed to the line.

Alone once again, I leaned back and watched the game. Redfield was beginning to get wide open shots. Mandy blocked a few and the majority went over or off to the side. One was bound to go in eventually. A few minutes later, Taylor went up to challenge the ball and got it kicked straight into her stomach. Doubling over, she put her hand in the air. Since the ref now seemed to be on our side, he let Kevin sub Dakota in for her.

Tay made a beeline for the bench, collapsing by my propped up injury. "Can't breathe…" she gasped, holding her stomach.

"Wind knocked out of you?" I assumed, lowering my leg to the ground so she could sit closer.

"Mmmhmmm…" She took a second to get her breath back. "That fucking hurt." She lifted her shirt a little, revealing a red mark identical to the stitching on the ball. She put her shirt back down. "Oh shit, look…" Tay pointed back towards the game. Redfield had a break away. A simple give and go had ripped through our defense leaving Mandy to fend for herself. Making a fluid body fake, the girl tucked the ball in the opposite corner of the goal.

Zac and Kevin were lived as the screamed at the girls on the field. They were way too into the game to notice me. I took the opportune moment to dump the bag of ice to the ground. I reached for my discarded shin guard, sliding it back into its proper place.

Tay grabbed my arm while I was trying to velcro it. "What are you doing Mile?"

I pulled my arm back. "I'm going back in." I grabbed my sock, putting it back on. "I'm not losing this game."

"What about your-"

"Taylor, do you want to win?" I asked, folding my sock over.

Tay looked out on the field, over at the coaches, at Scott and back at me sheepishly. "Yeah."

I started slowly slipping my cleat back on. "Then help me get back in.. Their sweeper is dead. Seriously, it sent a through ball, we'd score."

She pondered my idea for a bit before making a decision. "Okay, when Kevin puts me back in, hide behind me. We have to wait until they're both completely preoccupied with something else before we go. And if you're fine, they shouldn't take you out when they see you. But I swear, if you get more hurt, I'm killing you."

I smirked and finished tying up my cleat. "Let's do this."

Taylor let Kevin know she was ready and he told her to go in for Demi before turning back to the game, yelling something obscene at the referee. Zac was no longer facing the game. He had his back turned and was watching a baseball game through the fence behind us.

"Stay in front of me," Tay whispered as began edging our way to the line.

Every time I put weight on my right side a twinge of pain shot through my ankle and up my leg. Ignoring it, I crouched in front of Tay. The side ref waved us in and I took out Meaghan while Tay took out Demi. Blake saw me back out and launched the goal kick towards me. I trapped it, cutting around Ingrid. Taylor was standing up next to their sweeper so I sent it to her using my left foot. She blew past the sweeper and made her way into the box. As she wound up for her shot her legs were taken out by one of their defenders. Since falling is Taylor's forte she somersaulted and sprung right up. Despite her speedy recovery the ref blew his whistle and pulled out another card.

This girl made her way off the field without a hissy fit. The ref set the ball up on the PK line. The rest of us surrounded the box and I found myself right near our bench. Kevin did a double take when he saw me. "Miley, you're not supposed to be out there. When did you go in?"

I smiled, not answering. Inching my way towards the center I watched Tay take a swing at the ball. I cringed as the ball soared up. It looked like it was going to go over. Instead, it ricocheted off the top bar. The game seemed to stop as we all watched the ball; us in disappointment and Redfield in relief. While all of us were gazing, Nicole stepped out of the bunch and headed the ball back towards the goal. Caught off guard, the goalie missed and the ball flew in.

We were tied. We still had a chance. As we lined back up at the mid line I saw Nick in the corner of my eye. He was holding up his sign again. With the newfound inspiration the whole team started playing harder. The ball was predominantly on our offensive side and the Redfield coach was practically having a stroke on the sidelines. With our intensity back we started getting more shots off. A minute was left and the score was still tied. The goalie punched the ball over after Tiffany pelted it straight at her. Maya went to take the kick in the left corner. She had been kicking them since I was bench and had sent the last two out. Looking nervous, she set the ball up. She ran back onto the field. "Miley, you take it!"

I hurried over to the corner as the time ticked away.

"Use your left foot!" Zac warned.

I backed up, ready to use my left when I felt the wind pick up. It was blowing in the same direction as the goal. If I kicked with my left the ball would go away from the goal. I switched to my right and ran at the ball.

* * *

**Mexico comes right after this so YAY!**

**Annnddd... imadinosawr918 and I are collaborating on a new story! We will be posting it on our joint page xiheartquestionmark so look out for that!**

**Annnd... again... I'll try not to take too long. It's summer so just keep bugging me til I get the next one out!**

**Thaaaanksss, Maddie  
**


	11. Chapter 10

**Sorry it's late! I'm too ADD to type a lot.. I've been typing this for at least 2 weeks.. Enjoy!**

* * *

I hurried over to the corner as the time ticked away.

"Use your left foot!" Zac warned.

I backed up, ready to use my left when I felt the wind pick up. It was blowing in the same direction as the goal. If I kicked with my left the ball would go away from the goal. I switched to my right and ran at the ball.

Instead of hurting, my ankle went numb as the ball arched in. The wind blew a bit, tucking the ball in the back of the net. The buzzer sounded and I watched the madness unfold in front of me.

Tay reached me first. Obviously forgetting about my ankle, she came at me full force, tackling me to the ground in a hug. "SHMILERZ! You did it!"

The rest of the team followed, one after the other piling on top of me. We were all screaming. It's been over ten years since East beat Redfield in any girls sport. This was freaking monumental. I shut my eyes, the joyous screams ringing in my ears. We won.

I couldn't keep the smile off my face as we made our way back to the bench, lining up to say 'good game' to Redfield. Captain Red and Ingrid both refused to slap my hand but I could care less, I was on cloud 348273984738!

Once we were back by our bags, Kevin finally sent something more coherent than screaming 'WE WON!'

"That was absolutely amazing girls. You never gave up and you finished that game beautifully. You played with finesse and just…" he couldn't get the words out. "I'm so proud of you girls. You made a statement out there and I'm excited for the rest of the season. Now I want you all to have a wonderful spring break. But I don't want any of you coming back with drinking tickets. You're all too good and I don't want to see you throw this season away. You girls deserve to go all the way. Oh, and before I forget, you better all run over break or you're in for a rude awakening when you get back." He started to walk away but then came back. "Wait, all of you get in here for one last cheer."

With no objection we all gathered back in a huddle, put our hands in the middle and screamed 'Raiders' as loud as humanly possible. A smile stayed plastered on my face as I sat down to take off my soccer things. I took everything off my left side first, shoving it into my bag. I untied my laces very slowly and when I finally got around to easing my shoe off, I was the only one left besides Zac and Scott.

Scott sat down in front of me, a disapproving look on his face. "It hurts, doesn't it?" I didn't say anything back. "I can't believe you went back in," he added, taking over and gently pulling my sock off.

Zac looked over at the goal I scored on. "I can't believe your shot went in. Especially with your left foot, it wouldn't…" his eyes narrowed as the pieces clicked into place. "You kicked with your right foot, didn't you?"

I bit my lip. "Well… yeah, but it didn't really…- I- Ow!" I groaned as Scott pulled my shinguard off a little too aggressively.

"Sorry!" he apologized. "Oh god, it's really swelling." He grazed over the puffy area with his fingertips. "I'm going to get you another bag of ice." He scurried over to his cooler.

Once I got everything back in my bag, Zac picked it up and slung it over his shoulder. I remained on the ground. "Can I have my sandals?"

He handed them down to me. "Hey, I haven't gotten to congratulate you yet Mile. That really was an amazing goal. I'm really proud of you, even though you are kind of stupid," he said, gesturing to my ankle.

I grinned back up at him. "Thanks Zaccy. But I'm not stupid…" I looked at my ever expanding ankle. "I'm passionate."

"Whatever the hell you are, you're also injured." Scott came back with the ice, handing me the bag. "I want you seeing a real doctor and me tomorrow before you leave for Mexico," he instructed.

"Oh yeah…" I remembered. "We're going to Mexico tomorrow. Oh Zac! If my ankle still hurts can I use a wheelchair in the airport?"

"_If_ it still hurts tomorrow?" Scott scoffed. "Sweetheart, it's gonna be hurting like a bitch tomorrow."

I surveyed my position on the ground. Setting my hands down on the dirt, I prepped myself for standing up. "It won't hurt if I take ibuprofen."

Scott grabbed the rest of his stuff. "You keep telling yourself that girly." He started walking away. "Remember to stop in tomorrow!" he reminded us before leaving.

"Later man," Zac called out, readjusting the bag and squatting down next to me. "Are you gonna stand up?"

I flailed my arms in the air. "Help me!" Even with a look of annoyance, Zac grasped my wrists and brought me back on my feet, well foot. I attempted in using my right foot but immediately decided against it as I felt the pain shoot through. Leaning onto Zac, using him as my main support, we hobbled our way across the field to Vanessa, Ashley, Kevin and Nick who were standing in a group near the bleachers.

There was a disapproving look on Vanessa's face. "Really Mile?" She checked out my ankle skeptically. "Right before vacation?"

"It's not my fault," I groused. "It's hers…" I gave a death glare towards Captain Red and her family who were walking down in our direction.

"I don't think going back in the game and running on that really helped," Kevin added, putting an arm around Ash. This was news. I knew they were both coming to Mexico but I didn't know there was reasoning behind it. How adorable.

Nick stepped in to my defense. "Hey, at least she scored the winning goal."

I let go of Zac and grabbed onto Nick's arm instead. "Thank you."

"Yeah, with your hurt foot," Zac notified the group.

Ash snorted. "That was dumb."

Nessa put her hand over her eyes. "Seriously?"

Nick kept me steady, slipping a hand around my waist. "She still scored."

We all fell silent as Captain Red and her equally ginger family passed us by. She definitely gave me the stink eye and checked out my ankle. Her mom, who had the same frizzy, nasty hair as her daughter, (loving those hereditary traits), and was quite a bit overweight came dangerously close to me. My ankle was facing out in the open and fell directly in line of her pendulum-like foldup chair. It was too late to move and the chair smashed into my ever growing injury.

This time there was no numbness. There was no second to process what had just happened. I was instantly in agony, the pain exploding in a concentrated area. The tears that I had held back before came rushing out. Clenching Nick's shirt in my hand, I turned into him sobbing. The initial pain from the rolling, the running, the kicking, the goal and now the chair pierced through my ankle. Nick's arms tightened around my frame, his fingertips moving up in down in a small attempt at comforting me.

"What the fuck was that?" I heard Zac yell.

I felt another hand on my back, but a simple back rub couldn't soothe the throbbing. With my head still buried in Nick's chest I tried to settle myself, biting my lip to distract myself from the pain. To give myself better support, I took my hands out from in front of me wrapping them around Nick and interlocking my fingers when they met. I heard everyone around me talking but I couldn't make anything out, everything blurred out by the sound of my crying. It scared me because I'm not a crier. I've always been able to push the feeling away, but I couldn't control it at this point. Finally, after what seemed like forever, although I'm sure it was only like a minute, I regained authority over my emotions. I loosened my grip of Nick and could make out coherent conversation around me.

"Zac, go pull the car up," Vanessa directed.

"I can take her bag," Ash offered up.

"Miley, sweetie, do you think you can walk?" V asked.

I shook my head, feeling absolutely pathetic. "I-"

Kevin interrupted, "Nick, just carry her."

Before I could stutter anything else out Nick's arms moved, one under my knees and the other around my lower back. "Put your arms around my neck," he whispered in my ear.

That was an easy request. I looped my arms around him, resting my head on his shoulder. "Don't drop me," was the only thing I could choke out as he carried me over to the parking lot effortlessly and slid me in the backseat of our Ford Focus.

He backed out and popped his head back in a few seconds this later, this time bearing the wonderful gift of an ice bag! "Don't wanna forget this." He placed the bag on my already propped up ankle.

I gasped a little at the surprising new temperature. Managing a small, watery smile, I looked over at him. "Thanks Nick."

"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow Mi." And with that, he backed out again, this time shutting the door softly behind him.

Zac put the car back into drive and began maneuvering out of the parking lot. "You okay now Miley?"

I sighed. "Yeah." Wiping my eyes, I leaned back grumpily in the seat. Now that I was back from my minor lapse in emotion control, I was pissed. "I'm fine." My tear ducts were dry now, thank god. I felt stupid for crying, it made me feel weak. I didn't want to be hurt, I didn't want to sob because I got hit with a little chair, I didn't want to have to get carried to the car, (though Nick doing it made it more enjoyable,) and I sure as hell didn't want to spend my spring break in Mexico on crutches. I stayed silent on the drive home and once we pulled into the driveway I grabbed my bag and hopped on my good foot to the door, refusing help. Throwing my bag on the floor, I hopped up the stairs to my room. I flopped on my bed, careful not to hit the tender area on anything. Once I was settled comfortably with the ice on my ankle I brought my phone out. There was a text from Nick.

'_how's the foot bruiser?'_

Only Nick had the ability to make me smile with a stupid remark after some dumb bitch basically ruined my spring break. With fingers flying, I texted back, _'not too shabby. I still gotta pack though… hobbling around my room shall be quite the task'_

I waited patiently for his response. It came a few seconds later. _'try not to fall ;)'_

His annoyingly adorable use of the winky face only tended to widen my smile. _'cute Nicholas, reallll cute…'_

Vanessa came in with a glass of water and two aqua ibuprofen capsules and started helping with my packing. She reluctantly took my orders and filled my suitcase with my cutest clothes. Nick continued to text me, putting up with all outfit dilemmas I sent him. With his advice, I was bringing the shortest jean shorts I own, three bikinis and every single summer dress I own. Even he wasn't exempt from common teenage boy pervert syndrome.

The next morning Scott's prediction had indeed been truthful; my ankle was throbbing from the moment I awoke. Zac took me to the pediatrician, but the lady that's usually my doctor was out. Instead I got the new doctor fresh out of med school and a complete douche lord. The first thing he did when I walked in the room, which had Dora the Explorer wallpaper in it, was check me out. I'm not saying that to be narcissistic, even Zac saw it. His direct line of vision was zeroed in on my boobs. To add to the already spectacular first impression, he proceeded to start a rant on how girls are too weak to play sports. He went on to tell me how dumb I was to play on it, something that was only semi-appropriate when Zac said it. Finishing off, Dr. Faggot concluded that I had sprained my ankle and should rest, ice, compress and elevate it. No shit Sherlock.

Our visit with Scott was much more pleasant. As we walked in, he zeroed in on my cardigan and told me how cute it was. Moving on, he made me put my ankle in a whirlpool and gave me an ankle massage so the swelling wouldn't cut off my circulation. He iced it, wrapped it, gave me some crutches and sent us on our way.

By the time we got to the airport for our six-o-clock flight, I was exhausted.

"The straps are digging into my back," I whined tiredly.

"Mile…" Zac stopped. "All you have is your carryon… come on."

"I'm crippled."

Nick slid the bag off my back. "Okay cripple, I got it."

"Thanks." I smiled, trying to move along with my crutches at the same pace as everyone else.

We finally reached the ticket counter and I collapsed on a nearby bench, thankful for even the tiniest bit of rest. Zac came back shortly. "We got upgraded to first class."

"Because of Cripple?" Ashley asked, letting go of Kevin's arm and grabbing her suitcase again.

"She's not crippled," Joe scoffed, ramming his shoulder into me lightly to throw off my balance.

I easily caught myself by placing my right leg down. "Ya jerk."

"Careful!" V smacked Joe on the head with her boarding pass.

Our flight was on time and we were in the air by 6:15. Nick and I were sitting next to each other in our roomy first class seats.

"You ready for Mexico Mi?"

"Hell, yeah," I yawned, moving around to find a comfortable sleeping position. "I've been practicing my Spanish."

"What can you say?"

"Quiero lamer como un chupete."

"That's pretty advanced, all I can say is 'hola'." He paused. "What does what you just said even mean?"

Finally settling against the window, my eyes began fluttering shut. "I wanna lick you like a lollipop."

"Do you actually want to lick me like a lollipop?"

"Mmmm…" was all I managed before my eyelids slid shut and I was dead to the world.

In the middle of an awkward dream that consisted of flying toasters and cats attacking Liam, a noise disrupted my slumber. "Attention ladies and gentlemen. The pilot has turned the 'fasten seatbelts ' sign once again. We are about twenty minutes from our destination. We hoped you enjoyed your flight, Milwaukee to Cancun and we hope you choose AirTran Airlines for your next traveling experience. Thank you."

My eyes drifted open; I was still really frickin tired. I was on an airplane. In first class. With my head on Nick's shoulder. I fell asleep on the window… how did that happen?

"Well look who decided to wake up," Nick teased, looking down on my dazed self.

I sat up, stretching and cracking my back in the process. "Sorry for sleeping on you."

"No, it's cool. You started out against the window but somehow ended up snuggled on me. I didn't want to wake you up and move you." That earned a blush and I turned to the side to hide my face. "Don't worry," he reassured me. "It was cute. Did you know you make little noises in your sleep?"

"Are you implying that I snore?"

"No! No… you sound like a puppy or a little bunny or something."

I yawned as the plane began to dip. "Tay's said that before." I rubbed at my eyes, trying to wake myself up a little. "What time is it?"

"A little after midnight. You slept for a good six hours. I stole your ipod; I beat your high score in Angry Birds."

The wheels hit the ground and the plane started slowing down. "Congratulations."

We got to our gate and I got my unfortunate crutches back. Once out of the plane and into the airport, I felt a jolt of excitement. My mom was going to be here to pick us up and I hadn't seen her since Christmas. We went down to baggage claim, but the carousel hadn't started yet.

"Call mom," I begged Zac. "Tell her we're here."

Zac reluctantly pulled out his phone and called. "Mom?" I listened in on their conversation the best I could. "We're here. Are you going… Oh. Really? Is that why you… Do you wanna talk to her? Okay." He held out the phone for me.

I readjusted myself on the crutches and took the phone. "Hi mom, where are you?"

She sighed. "Sweetie, I can't come."

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**More fun Mexico stuff to come! And keep on the lookout for my new story with imadinosawr918... It's called State of Mind and we almost have the first two chapters ready!**

**Reviews would be greatly appreciated and thanks to everybody who has been reviewing.. I love you all!**

Maddie


	12. Chapter 11

**Sorry if you thought this was an update, Maddie is taking a teeny break from her stories on this name to work on a collab story with me, imadinosawr918.**

**I took over her story here to tell you that we put out our first chapter of our collab story today! :)**

**It's called State of Mind, and our collab account is xiheartquestionmark**

**Go read it!**

**We've been working extremely hard on it :)**


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